Endeavors in Wooing
by LizzeXX
Summary: 11/OC -Time Lady- The Doctor has regenerated but now Mac, a Time Lady and old love, knows the truth about the war and Final Sanction. Now that her anger towards him has faded the Doctor sees nothing but hope to rekindle what they once had and will not stop till he's wooed his lady. But with the cracks appearing, will he even be able to succeed? Third in the Time Lady Memoirs.
1. The Eleventh Hour

A/N: Hello! This story is Endeavors in Wooing, the third story in my fourth OC series, The Time Lady Memoirs, for Doctor Who. I would recommend that new readers look at the first two stories (Losing Hope and Finding Forgiveness) to understand my OC, Mackenzie 'Mac', and the Doctor's feelings for her :) If interested, my other 3 series are 1. The Academic Series (OC - the Professor), 2. The Lunar Cycle (OC - Evy Daniels), and 3. The Heart of Time Saga (OC - the Angel) ;) This story will focus on my OC/Time Lady, Mac AKA Naery, the official pairing name for her and the Doctor being Thaery :) This story will largely follow the events that Mac is aware of and a part of, but will also include some scenes with the Doctor elsewhere and possibly others when they talk about her.

This will essentially be a revision of Series 5 to incorporate the existence of another Time Lord, Mac. This story will be updated every day with each chapter being 1 episode, however the Christmas special will be two chapters. I'll also be doing the Sarah Jane Adventures episode 'Death of the Doctor' which will only be 1 chapter :) There may be a few mini-sodes popping up along the way ;)

This will eventually be a Doctor/OC series, and this particular story will really focus on the Doctor trying to win back the woman he loves :)

Quick physical description of Mac: she's a tallish woman with wavy ginger hair that goes to a little past her shoulders, she tends to wear it hanging free with a headband. She's pale but has a few freckles splattered across her nose and light green eyes eyes. She tends to wear a strapless or thin-strapped dress that's a little more fitted on the top and loose for the skirt that goes to about her knees. She wears flats and a cardigan with bigger-on-the-inside pockets to it :) For a reference, an actress that I think is similar to Mac is Emma Stone ;) She is currently on her 8th incarnation and, as of the end of Finding Forgiveness, was 916 :)

~8~ is a scene break.

"_italics_" is Gallifreyan.

'_italics_' is telepathic communication.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...or we'd have likely seen a Time Lady returned for 11 to flirt with :)

Enjoy!

~8~

The Eleventh Hour

Mac winced as she pulled back from the console, starting to reconsider wearing her cardigan as it caught fire once more, singing the bottom of it as she tried to pat it out quickly while still trying to fly the TARDIS. The Doctor was grinning at her from the other side of the console, laughing and rushing about, over excited to fly the crashing TARDIS…when the box suddenly gave a jolt that sent her flying back into the captain's chair…but tossed the Doctor right towards the small ramp that led to the doors. The box tilted to the side even more, off center, and the Doctor rolled down the ramp and right out the doors that had been flapping about open and closed as they flew, the lock broken.

"Doctor!" Mac called, jolting to the console and pulling a lever to at least level them out so she wouldn't go flying out the doors as well.

"Help!" the Doctor's voice shouted from out the doors where he was dangling out them by his hands.

Mac looked around and ran to one of the grates, pulling it open and finding a small groove to the side of the Doctor's Chest, and rooted around for anything that could help, beaming when she found something. She pulled herself up and twisted, attaching one end to the railing before she threw the end of the rope towards the doors, "There! Pull yourself up!"

"Where did you get a rope from?" he strained as she heard him starting to pull himself up.

"It's not a rope!"

"Looks like a rope."

"It's a grappling rope."

"What, like attached to a grappling hook?"

Mac rolled her eyes, pulling herself up to the console, "That's usually what's attached to a grappling rope!"

The Doctor huffed as he managed to pull his arms back up onto the TARDIS floor, "Where did you get a grappling hook from?"

"You're dangling out of the TARDIS doors and you're asking ME where I got a grappling hook from?" she blinked at him.

He just grinned widely at her, "What better time is there to ask?" he chuckled, starting to pull himself back in.

She shook her head, "Where do you get anything in the TARDIS out of seemingly nowhere?" she countered.

"Your pockets?" he guessed.

"Not even I could fit a grappling hook in there," she laughed, moving to one end of the rope and tugging it, giving him a pointed look as he grabbed onto his end with one hand, her tugging and helping to pull him back into the TARDIS fully.

"Then where…"

"Where you keep all your odds and ends," she nodded to the grating just as he reached her, plopping back onto his legs as he panted a bit from the climb, "Come on," she patted his knee, "We need to keep the TARDIS from crashing."

He let out a small sad sigh, he'd just wanted…one little moment with her as his new self, just…a moment to breathe, but the TARDIS WAS crashing and if it landed in the wrong place it could hurt someone. So he pushed himself up and made his way to his half of the console to help…

~8~

"What lever did you pull?!" Mac called down to him, through the door of the gantry that the Doctor had fallen through…which was odd because it was meant to lead to the halls, but it seemed like he had fallen into a pool…but he was also in the library, and the room was the wrong side up…

"It wasn't me!" he huffed, before the grappling hook went flying past her and up through the doors of the TARDIS. He'd grabbed onto the rope to try and keep balanced while she'd held onto the railing, but with all the twisting and turning and toppling, the hook had come undone and he'd fallen back into the pool.

She shook her head but glanced at him again, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" he reassured her, "But we should both get out of here while she airs out."

Mac nodded and turned, straining to reach out for the rope of the grappling hook, managing to grab it, but didn't dare start climbing just yet. She waited till the Doctor had pulled himself up and gave her a confused look as to why she hadn't started up it, "I'm wearing a dress," she reminded him.

The Doctor's eyes widened at that, "Oh, right, yes, I um…hadn't noticed."

Mac gave him a look, "Liar."

He flushed at that, "Well, then…I had better um…" he just pointed up and began his climb again.

She shook her head, "You'd better hope that the TARDIS doesn't recalibrate herself and give us a glass floor or we'll have some problems Doctor."

"I'll have you know it would be no problem at all, that's just…ew," he remarked.

She laughed at that and glanced around at the room a moment longer. With all the destruction, there would be no point in the TARDIS trying to fix it all, it would be better to just start from scratch and come up with a new console room. She had no idea what would be coming, but she was rather excited to see what it would be.

She waited only a moment or two after the Doctor had passed her before she started climbing up after him, "Can I have an apple?" she heard him say as he reached the top, so clearly there was someone out there, "All I can think about, apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new, never had cravings before. Nice little Mac…intosh apple," he stuttered a bit at that, "Macintosh apples are my favorites," he recovered, glancing back down at her as she gave him a concerned look for the state of his mental wellbeing. He quickly moved up to straddle the edge of the TARDIS, "Whoa! Look at that!" he pointed down past her.

"Are you ok?" she could hear a little girl speak, a Scottish accent to her, echoing the thoughts in Mac's head as well.

"I'm wondering the same," Mac said as she reached the top as well. The Doctor immediately put both his legs over the side, moving to help her prop herself up beside him, her legs dangling inside the TARDIS like his were outside it.

"Just had a fall," he rolled his eyes, "All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"You're soaking wet," the little girl stated. Mac looked over at her to see she was a small ginger girl, in her night clothes, with a little red robe and red wellies on.

"I was in the swimming pool."

"You said you were in the library."

"Very good," Mac smiled at the girl, "He was in both."

"Are you policemen?" the girl asked.

Mac frowned, "Why do you need a policeman?" she turned and quickly hopped off the TARDIS, moving to kneel before the girl, taking her hands, "Are you alright? Did you need help?" she looked the girl over intently, as though searching for injuries, "Are you hurt?"

The girl gave her an odd look before glancing at the Doctor to see him smiling softly at Mac for her concern, "I'm fine," the girl told her, stepping back a bit…cautious of the woman even though she only appeared to be concerned for her, "It's just the crack in my wall…"

"What cra..." the Doctor began, before he toppled off the TARDIS, having lost his balance, and fell to the ground, "Agh!"

"Doctor!" Mac turned, still on her knees to his side, "Are you ok?"

"Are you alright, mister?" the girl asked as well.

"I'm fine," he reassured them, pushing himself up to a kneel, "It's ok," he glanced at the girl, "This is all perfectly norm..." before he grimaced and opened his mouth to allow a small wisp of regeneration energy out.

"_Are you sure?_" Mac asked him in Gallifreyan as the girl eyed them oddly for it, "_Doctor the last time you regenerated, I read the reports, you were…_"

"_That was different,_" he cut in gently, "_That was cos of the Vortex, this was just radiation, nothing I haven't encountered before._"

She looked at him a moment, "_If you're sure…_"

He gave her a wink for it.

"Who are you?" the little girl shook her head.

"I'm Mackenzie," Mac told her, "And this is the Doctor."

The Doctor eyed his hands, seeing a faint remnant of the regeneration energy on it, and looked at it curiously, wondering what sort of hand that would be. His last self had a 'fighting hand' but this one? Hmm…he couldn't wait to find out, "Does it scare you?" he asked suddenly, turning to the girl.

"No," she shrugged, "It just looks a bit weird…"

"I think he might have been talking about the crack," Mac cut in gently.

The Doctor nodded, "Yes, yes, the crack in your wall. Does it scare you?"

The girl gave them a timid nod, quite unlike the personality they got off her, "Yes."

"Well, then!" the Doctor jumped to his feet, startling Mac with the move, "No time to lose. I'm the Doctor," he began, before blinking, "Like Kenzie said," he reached out to help her up as she watched him with concern and caution, "Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off."

And with that, he turned and strode across the small garden they'd landed in…and walked right into a tree, knocking him back onto his back on the ground.

"Doctor!" Mac rushed over, dropping to a crouch at his head and leaning over him, gently touching his forehead, "Are you hurt?"

He blinked a bit and looked at her, "I'm seeing stars," he murmured, looking into her eyes, "Did you know, you're just as gorgeous upside down as you are right-side up?"

She stared at him a moment, "How hard did you hit your head?"

"Not hard enough if I'm only seeing one of you," he gave her a cheeky grin, "Two of you would be twice as lovely."

Mac nodded, a bit amused at his words, and looked at the little girl, "Do you have an ice pack?" she asked her, moving to help the Doctor sit up, and then get to his feet, "Or perhaps frozen peas or carrots?"

The girl nodded, "It's in the kitchen," she glanced at the Doctor as he sort of just stared at Mac, "Is he alright?"

Mac looked over to see him smile when she turned to him, "He'll be fine," she told the girl, looking back at her, seeing the Doctor pouting out of the corner of her eye for it, "He's just a bit disoriented at the moment, it'll pass."

~8~

"If he's a Doctor, what are you?" the girl asked as she went to her freezer and took out a small bag of peas, handing it to Mac as the Doctor just sort of stood there looking around at the room, like a little baby who was seeing the world for the first time.

"Ever heard of UNIT?" Mac countered as she took the peas and gently turned the Doctor's head to face her, shaking her head at how he instantly started smiling when he saw her, and lightly pressed the peas to his forehead.

"That's those alien people right?" the girl frowned, "They stop the bad aliens?"

"Exactly," Mac smiled, "We stop the bad aliens," she glanced over, "I'm one of their Agents."

"So you're not a doctor too then?"

"Nope, though I've got plenty of experience with bumps and bruises," she chuckled a bit, "Younger siblings."

"I don't have any siblings," the girl sighed, before she glanced at the Doctor. She turned and opened her fridge, rooting around in it for an apple and handing it to him, "If _you're _a doctor, why does your box say 'Police?'"

"This isn't a macintosh," he blinked at the apple.

The girl shrugged, "It's all we've got."

"Just be polite and eat your apple," Mac turned his head to her again and gave him the 'disapproving mother' look, one that she used to give him and the others all the time on Gallifrey.

He grinned at seeing it and took a big bite of the apple…only to turn and try to spit it out.

"Into the waste bin Doctor," Mac called when she saw his head turning, she'd seen enough of that expression with her younger siblings growing up and she knew what was coming next.

The Doctor grimaced but turned to the small waste bin behind him and spit the apple into it, "That's disgusting," he grumbled, "What is that?"

"An apple," the girl gave him a look.

"Apples are rubbish. I hate apples."

"You said you loved them."

"No, I love _macintosh_ apples, YOU said this was not."

"What about something else then?" Mac suggested.

"Hmmm…" he hummed, "I love yogurt. Yogurt's my favorite. Give me yogurt."

"Doctor," Mac gave him the look again, crossing her arms.

He sighed, "Please."

The girl shook her head and moved to the fridge, getting him a yogurt as Mac moved to place the peas back in the freeze. The Doctor opened the yogurt pack and downed it all into his mouth…before he spit it out…though back into the pack before tossing it over his shoulder and into the still-open waste bin.

"I hate yogurt, it's just stuff with bits in!"

"You said it was your favorite!" the girl huffed.

"New mouth, new rules," he wiped his mouth.

"You know how when you get your teeth cleaned everything tastes funny?" Mac looked at the girl, "Or when you're sick nothing tastes like anything?" the girl nodded, "It's like that."

"Yes," the Doctor pointed at her, "Everything tastes wro-agh!" he flailed his arm, having a mini-fit, and ended up slapping himself in the head, "Ow…" he rubbed his head again.

"Right where you smacked it on the tree, isn't it?" Mac guessed.

"Yes," he winced.

"I'll get the peas again…"

"No, no, it's ok," he offered her a smile, "I don't need the peas."

"You're head's hurting."

"I think a kiss would be just fine," he gave her a small suggestive smile, "Mother's kisses make everything better."

"I'm not your mother," Mac gave him a smirk and turned to get the peas again, handing it to him as he pouted, "Here."

The little girl tugged on the bottom of Mac's cardigan, "What's wrong with him?" she whispered up at the woman.

"Wrong with me?" the Doctor huffed, hearing her, the peas pressed to his forehead, "It's not _my_ fault. Why can't you give me decent food? You're Scottish, fry something."

Mac shook her head as she rubbed her forehead, "Let me help you," she offered the girl, trying to make up for how rude the Doctor was being.

The girl just shrugged and grabbed some bacon out of the fridge, handing it to Mac to open while she started the stove. Mac gently nudged her aside, a pan in hand, and began to fry the bacon, not about to let a small girl near the burning stove…even if she was likely old enough to cook on it herself. The girl didn't seem to care that she didn't have to make the food and went to get the Doctor a towel to dry himself off with.

"Finished," Mac called a few minutes later, scooping the bacon up and onto a plate the girl had gotten, turning around to see the Doctor eagerly sitting at the kitchen table and grinning up at her as she placed the bacon before him.

"Ah! Bacon!" he grinned, taking a bite of it…only to grimace and spit it out…into a napkin when Mac shot him a warning look, "I know you're angry with me but trying to poison me is rude."

Mac rolled her eyes, "I'm not angry with you anymore Doctor."

He blinked and stared at her, "Really?"

She nodded, glancing at the girl to see her eyeing them both in confusion, "But we should discuss that later," she turned to look around the kitchen before he could open his mouth to argue and found a can of beans, "May I?" she asked the girl who shrugged again, not really caring.

"Ah, you see, beans," the Doctor smiled as the girl looked back at him and, a few minutes later, Mac set a bowl of beans before him. He took a giant forkful of it…and rushed over to the sink to spit it out. Mac had to wonder just how many different places he would spit his food out into, the bin, the food container, a napkin, the sink, what would be next? The Doctor just wiped his mouth off, "Beans are evil," he moaned, "Bad, bad beans."

"Let's try simple bread then," Mac offered, moving to a small bag of bread she could see and taking out a slice, placing it on a plate as the girl offered her some butter to put on it.

"Yes, bread and butter," the Doctor nodded, "Now you're talking."

He took one bite…and promptly spit it onto the bread, folding it over into a sort of sandwich, and ran for the door, throwing it outside with a crash and a squalling meow from the dark, making both women wince, "And stay out!" he shouted, slamming the door behind him.

This was going to be a LONG night.

~8~

Fish fingers and custard was the LAST thing any of them thought the Doctor would want to eat, but when they'd gone through just about everything left in the fridge and cupboards and the only thing that remained was carrots…he'd taken it into his own hands and pulled out those two items that made the girls grimace to think of. But, surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. While the girl munched on some chocolate ice cream, Mac was slowly making her way through a fish finger, dipping it in custard here and there. She'd been working on her single fish finger while the Doctor polished off about five others. She always had been a slow eater. It hadn't come out much in UNIT, she ate smaller meals and ate in her lab so no one really saw her, but she seemed to have retained that in every body. She just liked savoring the food, perhaps she was slower now because she missed the foods of her home and knew that the food before her might not always be available to her. On Gallifrey she'd just been slower because she liked talking with others as they ate. But now it had become a more of a savoring thing.

She shook her head at the Doctor as he offered her the last bite of his own fish finger before he shrugged and popped it into his mouth, before drinking the custard and making a small moustache with it that he wiped away quickly.

"Funny," the girl remarked.

"Am I?" the Doctor asked.

"Ridiculously," Mac had to nod, offering him a small smile for it.

He seemed to beam at that, at the notion that he was funny because funny meant laughing and that meant he could make people (like Mac) laugh, and he loved that, "Good. Funny's good."

"What's your name sweetie?" Mac looked at the girl, ignoring the groan from the Doctor for her use of small nickname for the girl, sweetie likely reminded him of River Song.

"Amelia Pond," she answered.

"Ah, that's a brilliant name," the Doctor nodded, "Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale."

"We're…not in Scotland, are we?" Mac guessed, with all the crashing she hadn't been able to get a scan going and she hadn't been able to focus enough on getting a sense of where they were in time and space just yet, it was easier to just ask, she didn't feel like they were in Scotland though.

"No," Amelia grumbled, stabbing her ice cream a bit, "We had to move to England. It's rubbish."

"So what about your mum and dad, then?" the Doctor wondered, "Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now."

"I don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt."

"I don't even have an aunt."

"You're lucky."

"I know."

"Hold on," Mac frowned, "Where's your aunt then? If I heard a crash in the middle of the night, I'd have woken up…"

The Doctor snorted.

"What?" Mac demanded, looking at her.

"YOU, wake up?" he laughed, "You could sleep like the dead."

Mac rolled her eyes, "Not true."

"As I recall, the only way to wake you up without you being a right old misery for it was…"

"Your aunt?" Mac turned back to Amelia, cutting off the Doctor and making the girl eye them again, seeing her blushing and the Doctor smirking.

"She's out," Amelia shrugged.

"She left you in this house all by yourself?!" Mac stared at her, making the Doctor chuckle at her mother henning coming out.

"I'm not scared," Amelia defended.

"'Course you're not," he waved off Mac's concern easily, he'd spent plenty of time alone when he was the girl's age, getting into trouble and mischief, "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, aliens fall out of box then eat fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there with your ice cream. So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

"So why don't we go and take a peek then," Mac smiled and the Doctor grinned widely at that.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac paused in the doorway to Amelia's bedroom, seeing a rather large crack on the wall and already able to tell, without even touching it, that something was wrong with it. For one…they could feel a draft coming at them from that direction and Amelia's window was closed. They glanced at each other and the Doctor gestured her on, "Ladies first," he smiled.

Mac shook her head at him with a smile but stepped into the room, going to move a small desk away from the wall so they could get a closer look. The Doctor moved to one end of the crack and began to run his finger over it, examining it, as Mac fingered just the one end of it, frowning, "This isn't right," she murmured, before she started rooting around in her pockets.

"You've had some cowboys in here," he called to Amelia, "Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."

"I used to hate apples," Amelia remarked as she stood in her doorway, not wanting to step more into her room, the crack…it really DID scare her, "So my mum put faces on them."

The Doctor looked over to see she had an apple in her hand that she held out to him. He moved over to her and took it, seeing a small smiley face carved into it and had to think if it was only a macintosh it would be a 'smiling Mac' and that would be wonderful, "She sounds good, your mum, I knew someone just like that," he glanced at Mac, she used to do that to get her siblings to eat the Gallifreyan version of vegetables, she'd make little faces in them or make little pictures out of them for her siblings to eat away at. She really would have made such a wonderful mother if she'd been given the chance. He frowned though when he saw her holding a small bit of string before the middle of the crack, the string moving, like it was drifting in a light breeze, "I'll keep it for later," he murmured, tossing the apple and putting it in his pockets, before he headed over to Mac and pulled the sonic out, ready to examine it further.

"That's what I don't understand," Mac nodded, seeing his look at the string, "If this wall is solid and the crack's just on the surface, there shouldn't be a draft."

The Doctor turned the sonic on it, running it along the line of the crack and examining the readings, "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?"

"What?" Amelia asked.

"It's a crack," he started, "I'll tell you something funny," he looked at Mac more this time, "If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, cos the crack isn't in the wall."

"You're not telling me…" Mac began slowly, realization dawning on her as she looked at the crack again, "It's not a crack, it's a split, isn't it?"

The Doctor had to nod at that, "In the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together...right here in the wall of your bedroom Amelia."

Mac frowned and turned her head to press her ear to the wall, "I wonder if there might be…"

"A voice?" Amelia guessed, "There is."

Mac squinted trying to make it out before she sighed and turned to the desk, grabbing a piece of paper and rolling it into a slightly cone-like cylinder, pressing one end to the wall and moving her hair behind her ear to press her ear to the other end, about to listen more when…

"Your ears are adorable," the Doctor said, making her blink and look at him. He shrugged, reaching across the crack to touch the rim of the one she'd just pushed her hair behind, just noticing it now, "They're small and...nice?"

Mac gave him a slow nod, looking at him as though he were a bit mad (and thinking she really had to check just how much damage his head had taken in hitting that tree), before she pressed her ear back to the paper, listening...

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," she could hear.

"Who's Prisoner Zero?" she murmured.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped?" Amelia called as they looked at her, "Is that what it says? I hear that all the time. What does it mean?"

"It means that, on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner," the Doctor remarked, "Do you know what that means?"

"What?"

"You need a better wall. Kenzie?" he looked at her, making her blink at that, that was the second time he'd called her 'Kenzie' instead of Mackenzie, she had to wonder if it was because it was just how THIS him preferred to call her, "What do you think?"

She shrugged, shaking her head, "We need to invert the forces," she stated, "To close the breach completely."

"But if we do that…" the Doctor began, trailing off.

"What?" Amelia picked up on the tension between them.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Yes."

"Everything's going to be fine."

Mac rolled her eyes, "Yes, because telling her it's a lie and then saying that exact lie is the perfect way to make her think you're telling her the truth," she huffed, turning to Amelia and kneeling down before her, taking her hands, "I'm going to be very honest with you Amelia, because you seem like a very brave and clever girl."

"I am!" Amelia declared.

Mac smiled, "To invert the forces of anything, means that we'll be setting it to the opposite of how it should be. You know how when you put two magnets that are the same end together and the repel each other, but when you switch them to opposites they attract?" Amelia nodded, "We're hoping it'll be like that. But it's not quite as easy as a magnet. When you reverse anything, it goes against what it normally is and it can react very badly. To invert the forces of something like this…it could cause the tear to get bigger. We hope, if it does get bigger, that it'll sort open like a rubber band, expand as much as it can before it snaps back. But there IS a chance it'll just keep getting bigger and bigger and either let something through or keep tearing. Ok?"

Amelia nodded, understanding that, "Ok."

"Are you sure you want us to try?"

The Doctor had to smile at that, at her asking Amelia's permission to do that. Mac really hated when he lied to companions, well, to anyone really, and she'd taken it on herself to make sure they knew the truth. He was hoping there would be some lies that she wouldn't rebuff and say the truth in, but he could understand this. This was a child's bedroom, their sanctuary, where they should be safe. If this went wrong, and Amelia didn't know it could…she'd be traumatized by seeing how bad it was getting. Mac was making sure she understood the consequences.

"I want the crack gone," Amelia decided.

"Well alright then," Mac nodded and stood up, looking at the Doctor, "You heard the girl," she winked.

"You are amazing," he told her, smiling at her softly, "Truly just…a wonder."

Mac gave a small laugh, "And when we finish here, I'll really have to check that skull of yours for injuries."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that and glanced at the crack. He stepped back to Amelia's side and took her hand as Mac held her other hand. He took a breath and flicked the sonic at the crack, a light starting to shine through it as it widened, making her gasp. Mac squinted, able to see something like bars in the shadows through the crack.

'_Well it doesn't appear to be getting bigger,_' she remarked to the Doctor in his mind, '_That's a good sign._'

'_THAT however…is not,_' the Doctor winced as a large eyeball suddenly appeared in the crack.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped!" it called, frantically spinning around, looking through the crack at them, "Prisoner Zero has escaped."

"What's that?" Amelia frowned.

Before they could answer a small light flew out of the crack and hit the Doctor's pocket, knocking him back to the bed before the crack sealed, "Doctor!" Mac turned to him, helping him sit up, "You alright?"

He nodded, grinning reassuringly, "Just fine. There. You see, told you it would close. Good as new."

"What was that thing?" Amelia looked at them, "Was that Prisoner Zero?"

"I don't think so," Mac remarked, "It was alerting us that Prisoner Zero escaped. If it WAS Prisoner Zero, it wouldn't have said that…it was probably Zero's guard."

"Whatever it was," the Doctor pulled the psychic paper from his pocket, "It sent me a message. Psychic paper, takes a lovely little message," he turned it over to show them the same message the guard had said, 'Prisoner Zero has escaped,' before he put it away again, "But why tell us?"

"Because Zero escaped through here," Mac realized, "In UNIT we sent out alerts and messages to all departments to let them know Groskes had escaped and were…" she trailed off.

"Were what?" Amelia tensed.

"Still in the building," she looked at the Doctor,

"But he couldn't be," the Doctor shook his head, standing up, "We'd know. We'd have seen him…" he turned and ran out of the room, looking around, trying to see where it might be. Mac ran past him to the other doors on the floor and opened them, running into them to look around herself, "It's difficult," he muttered to Amelia, as Mac ran to the second room, "Brand-new me, nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing..." he followed Mac's progress as she made it to the 4th door on the floor, "In the corner..." and then to the 5th, just beside a door he almost couldn't look at, "Of my eye…"

Just as Mac ran out of the 5th room and turned to the last, a rather sharp grinding noise echoed up to them from outside, the klaxon of the TARDIS going off.

"The TARDIS!" Mac gasped, forgetting the door for a moment, before she turned and rushed down the stairs, the Doctor after her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" he followed her, Amelia just behind him, "We've got to get back in there!" the Doctor called to Mac as they reached the TARDIS, "The engines are phasing, it's going to burn!"

"I know!" Mac turned and grabbed the grappling hook off of the item it was hooked on, turning to wrap it around the inner handle of the TARDIS doors.

"But... it's just a box!" Amelia frowned, "How can a box have engines?"

"It's not a box," the Doctor moved to help Mac loop the end of the rope through the other door's handle, "It's a time machine."

"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?"

"Not if we don't stabilize her," Mac muttered, looking at the Doctor, "A minor temporal jump should work."

"Five minutes?" he suggested.

"Perfect," she smiled.

"Can I come?" Amelia called, making them pause.

"Not safe in here, not yet," the Doctor shook his head and got back to work, "Five minutes. Give us five minutes, we'll be right back," he turned and helped Mac onto the edge of the box, about to pull himself up as well when Amelia sighed behind him.

"People always say that," the girl murmured.

The Doctor stopped and turned around, "Are we people?" he asked her, moving to stand before her, leaning over to look in her eyes with a small smile, "Do we even look like people? Trust me, I'm the Doctor," he gave her a small wink, making her smile before he turned and hopped back onto the edge. He and Mac turned around so their feet were dangling inside the TARDIS.

He looked at Mac a moment, holding out a hand to her. She smiled and took it, the two of them gripping hands as they jumped down into the TARDIS, the Doctor shouting, "Geronimo!" as the doors slammed shut above them.

The TARDIS disappeared moments later.

~8~

"Kenzie!" the Doctor shouted as Mac bolted out of the TARDIS the second it landed again and ran for Amelia's house, "Wait!" he rushed after her, the TARDIS smoking and grinding behind them.

"Amelia's in danger!" she called back, trying to shove the front door open. The Doctor ran up to her, knowing she was worried about the little girl, and flashed the sonic on the lock, opening it, the two of them bursting inside, "Amelia! Amelia! Sweetie are you ok!?"

"We worked out what it was," the Doctor yelled as well, "I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!"

"Amelia?" Mac rushed up the stairs, looking around the halls for her, heading for her bed room as the Doctor tried to get into the last door she hadn't checked, "Amelia, sweetheart are you here?"

"Prisoner Zero is here," the Doctor kept shouting, struggling with the door, "Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is..." he turned around, hearing a creak behind him, and fell to the ground as a cricket bat smacked across his head, the last thing he heard was Mac shouting 'Doctor!' before his world went black.

~8~

The Doctor slowly came to to find himself sitting on the ground before a radiator and noticed two things. The first was that there was a female police officer standing before him in a rather short skirt and talking into her radio, describing him and Mac to her boss and requesting assistance for them breaking and entering. And the second…was that Mac was right beside him, his head turned towards hers as hers was towards him, unconscious as well. He tried to reach for her with his left hand, and realized a third thing…he was handcuffed to the base of the radiator…as was Mac's right hand.

He groaned and moved his right hand instead towards her face, lightly touching it, stroking her cheek to try and wake her up, "Kenzie…" he murmured, hearing the police woman fall silent as she noticed him up, "Wake up…Kenzie?"

Mac frowned, wincing and putting a hand to her left hand to her head as she slowly blinked awake to see the Doctor's green eyes looking into hers with concern as he offered her a small, worried smile. Their heads were nearly touching, them sitting right beside each other. She flinched at the move of using her left hand and tried to bring her right one to her left arm…only to see she was handcuffed too, "Why does my arm hurt and why do I feel like I ran headfirst into a wall?"

"Because you did," the police woman informed them, "You two, sit still."

"I'm getting cricket bat," the Doctor rubbed his own head, the two of them sitting back a bit, straightening out and not leaning on each other as much.

"You were breaking and entering."

"Brilliant," Mac mumbled sarcastically, "New you and you get a smack in the head worse than that tree," she glanced at the Doctor, her eyes going right to a bruise forming at the corner of his forehead, "I'm really going to need to get you looked at."

"As long as it's you looking at me, I'm ok with that," he gave her a cheeky grin.

"Does it hurt?" she continued, ignoring how the police woman was starting to tap her foot on the ground in irritation at them ignoring her.

"Not now that _I'm_ the one looking at you," he winked, "I feel better already."

"Definitely got some brain trauma there," she murmured at that, making him laugh.

"Do you want to shut up now?" the police woman cut in, "I've got backup on the way!"

"Why did you hit us with a cricket bat?" Mac turned to her.

"You were breaking and entering," she replied as though it should be obvious. She'd gone into the hall, seen the man trying to break into another room and quickly grabbed her bat, smacking him. The girl had come running around the corner, out of the bedroom, and she'd just sort of reacted and spun around, swinging the bat. It caught the girl in the shoulder and sent her stumbling into the wall. She'd hit the back of her head on it, not quite as hard as the bat had hit the man, but enough to knock her out at least.

"But what are you doing here?" the Doctor shook his head.

"Where is Amelia Pond?" Mac added, but the woman was silent, staring at her, "Small Scottish girl? Where is she?"

"I promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing," the Doctor groaned at that, "I suppose we must have gone a bit far."

"Is she ok? Did something happen to her?"

The woman just frowned, eyeing them, "Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."

"How long?" the Doctor demanded.

"Six months."

"No, no, no! We can't be six months late! I said five minutes. I promised."

"Where did she go?" Mac frowned, "Why did she leave? Did her aunt get a new job or something?"

The officer just turned away from them and lifted the radio to her mouth, "Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up, these two know something about Amelia Pond."

'_Naery,_' Mac looked over, hearing the Doctor's voice in her mind, '_Do you see it? The last door?_'

She turned her gaze on the door at the end of the hall, the one she'd almost checked and frowned, squinting at it, forcing herself to look at it, '_Perception Filter,_' she agreed.

'_Can you get us out of here?_' he glanced at her.

She looked down only to sigh, seeing that her cardigan had been removed and was hanging on the banister across from her, just out of reach, '_She must have tried to search my pockets,_' she muttered, guessing that that was the reason her cardigan and all her useful odds and ends had been removed. If she couldn't get to it, she wouldn't be able to pick the lock on the handcuffs.

"We need to speak to whoever lives in this house now," the Doctor called, trying to look for the sonic to help them, or get the woman to give up the key.

"I live here," the woman stated.

"But you're the police."

"Yes, and this is where I live. You got a problem with that?!"

"How many rooms are there on this floor?" Mac cut in, making the 'stop talking' sign to the Doctor, if they wanted any chance of getting out of there, they HAD to get the woman to realize something was wrong and that they could help her.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"On this floor," the Doctor nodded, "How many rooms on this floor? Count them for us now."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Mac huffed.

The Doctor squeezed her hand, knowing she was getting antsy and tense, knowing that, if the perception filter was STILL on the door as it had been all those years ago…then whatever was in that room was STILL there…and they were handcuffed and trapped.

"Because it will change your life," he offered as well.

"Five," the woman rolled her eyes, pointing at each as she counted, "One, two, three, four, five."

"No," Mac shook her head, "Six."

The woman scoffed, "Six?"

"Look at the door at the end of the hall."

"What door?" the woman frowned.

"The door you never want to look at," the Doctor put his gaze on it, "The one you only see in the corner of your eye. The one right behind you."

The woman slowly turned, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the door, "That's...that is not possible. How's that possible?"

"There's an object called a perception filter that can make you not notice things," Mac told her, "There's one on the door."

"Sensed it the last time we were here," the Doctor sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Should've_ seen_ it."

"But that's a whole room," the woman breathed, staring at it, "That's a whole room I've never even noticed."

"And there is the point of the filter," Mac blinked at her and glanced at the Doctor, "Did I not just say that?"

The Doctor chuckled at that and called to the woman, "Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding. You need to uncuff us now!"

"I don't have the key," the woman murmured, starting to walk towards the door, "I lost it."

"How can you have lost it?!" the Doctor cried, the same time that Mac warned, "Stay away from the door!"

"Do not touch that door!" the Doctor started to struggle, trying to get them out of the cuffs as the woman ignored him and touched the knob, "Listen to me! Do not open that..." and opened the door, "Why does no one ever listen to me?" he looked at Mac, huffing, "Do I just have a face that nobody listens to? I mean I know your face is nothing like that but…"

"Where's the sonic?" Mac asked him, starting to look around, cutting into his thoughts, "We don't have the time to go on a tangent Doctor," she glanced at the door as the woman stepped through it, "Do you have the sonic?"

"No," he sighed, "My screwdriver," he called to the woman, "Where is it? Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?"

"There's nothing here," the woman shouted from inside the room.

"For the third time," Mac rolled her eyes, "There's a perception filter on the door, chance are, there's one in the room, it's meant to make you NOT see anything!"

"Now, please, just get out!" the Doctor cried.

"Silver, blue at the end?" the woman just inquired instead.

"My screwdriver, yeah."

"It's here."

"Must have rolled under the door," the Doctor let out a sigh, happy and relieved.

"Yeah. Must have. And then it must have jumped up on the table..."

"Get out!" Mac shouted, thinking for a brief moment that if the situation wasn't so deadly, she'd rather like that woman and her sarcasm, "Please, just get out of there!"

"What is it?" the Doctor called, not hearing any movement from within, "What are you doing?"

"There's nothing here, but..." the woman began.

"Corner of your eye."

"What is it?"

"Don't try to see it. If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you. Don't look at it. Do not look…"

"Get out!" Mac yelled as the woman screamed and, finally, came running out of the room with the sonic in hand, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Give me that!" the Doctor snatched the sonic from her as soon as she was near enough and flashed it at the door, locking it before he turned it on the handcuffs.

"It's not wood!" Mac actually shouted at the sonic as it failed to work, before stealing it from the Doctor's hands and bashing it on the floor.

"What's the bad alien done to you?" he murmured at it as well.

"Will that door hold it?" the officer panted.

"Why wouldn't it?" Mac muttered sarcastically, "Every single alien inter-dimensional multi-form is allergic to wood!"

"What's that?" the woman gasped, seeing a light flash from under the door, "What's it doing?"

"I don't know," the Doctor pulled the sonic back and tried to wipe it off, "Getting dressed? Run. Just go. Your backup's coming, we'll be fine."

"There is no backup."

"We heard you on the radio," the Doctor looked at her as Mac took the sonic again and tried it on the cuffs, starting to whack it on the radiator, "You called for backup!"

"I was pretending. It's a pretend radio."

"You're a policewoman!"

"I'm a kissogram!" the woman snapped, pulling off the bowler hat she'd been wearing and allowing her ginger hair to fall around her shoulders.

They had little time to think on that though when the door suddenly burst open, falling off its hinges and onto the ground as an older man in blue coveralls appeared, holding the leash of a rather big Rottweiler dog beside him.

"But it's just..." the ginger frowned.

"Still an alien," Mac muttered, "We're proof enough it can LOOK human to you."

"Look at the faces," the Doctor offered, grabbing the sonic back to try himself.

The woman frowned as the man growled and barked at her, just like a dog, though the dog itself was just staring at her.

"Give me my cardigan," Mac called to the woman.

"What?" she shook her head and stared at Mac, "I'm sorry, but what?! There's some sort of alien in my house and you want your jacket?!"

"It's got paperclips in the pockets!" she huffed, "Just get it!"

The ginger woman jerked forward, grabbing the cardigan off the banister and tossing it to Mac as she rooted through the pockets, knowing that the sonic was malfunctioning at the moment and she'd need to get them out.

"What is that thing?!" the woman demanded.

"It's all one creature," the Doctor explained quickly, glancing at the man as both he and the dog turned their heads to him at once, "One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form. A bit of a rush job, though," he called to it, trying to distract it from Mac as she pulled a paper clip out, "Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?" it snarled and tried to advance but the Doctor barked out, "Stay, boy!" and it stopped, "The three of us, we're safe. Want to know why? She sent for backup," he nodded his head at the woman.

"I didn't send for backup!" she muttered under her breath.

"I know, that was a clever lie to save our lives," the Doctor rubbed his head, glancing at Mac to see her working on the handcuffs, "Ok," he turned back to the alien, "Yeah, NO backup! And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we HAD backup, then you'd have to kill us!"

"Attention, Prisoner Zero," a voice boomed from outside, making the Time Lords freeze a moment, "The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. 'The human residence is surrounded."

"What's that?" the woman whispered.

"Backup," Mac mumbled, getting back to the cuffs.

"Ok," the Doctor sighed, "One more time. We do have backup and that's definitely why we're safe."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

"Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration," he tried to joke, glancing at Mac with a smile, "You're safe though."

"How so?" Mac mumbled, nearly getting her cuff open as the alien turned and stepped into another room to check outside for the voice.

"You're 'hot' enough," he murmured under his breath.

Mac stilled and looked up at him, concerned, "Have you got any sort of sloshing in your head? Any internal bleeding maybe?"

He just winked at her.

She shook her head and looked back down, hearing a click, "Finally!" she huffed, pulling the cuff off her arm, allowing the end of it to slip through the bottom of the radiator and freeing the Doctor.

"Yes," He grinned at it, helping her up, "Run!" he shouted to the ginger woman, running off down the hall and pulling Mac with him, "Run!" they bolted down the stairs and out the front door, the Doctor turning to flash the sonic on the lock so that it would shut behind them, "Kissogram?" he spun to the woman, sounding both confused and annoyed she'd tricked him.

"Yes!" the woman rolled her eyes.

"Why would you pretend to be the police then?" Mac shook her head, turning with the Doctor to head back to the TARDIS.

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid! What's going on? Tell me! Tell me!"

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house," the Doctor said quickly, actually being completely honest for once, "Any questions?"

"Yes!"

"You're not the only one," Mac told her, "What's wrong?" she looked at the Doctor as the key wouldn't turn to allow them in.

"It's still rebuilding," the Doctor sighed, rubbing his head.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

They spun around at the message going off when they heard a bark to see the alien was I n the window of the house, looking at them.

The ginger woman reached out blindly, grabbing the Doctor's arm, "Come on!"

"No, wait, hang on, wait, wait, wait," the Doctor pulled his arm away, "The shed."

"Doctor we really DO have to go," Mac argued.

"But the shed!" he pointed to it, rushing over towards it, "We destroyed that shed last time we were here, remember?" he looked at her, "We smashed it to pieces!"

Mac blinked and looked at it closely, seeing what he was getting at, "I suppose your new eyes are settling then…"

"On you," he tried to lean against the shed casually, possibly even flirtily…had he not misjudged it and ended up falling past the shed entirely, reaching out to the corner just in time to keep from toppling over.

"So there's a new one," the woman rolled her eyes at the Doctor's antics, rushing over, not having heard his comment to Mac, "Let's go."

"This shed is 10 years old," Mac turned to her, "Not new, and not even 6 months old."

"No, no," the Doctor sniffed his hand that had grabbed the shed…and then licked it, "12 years," he confirmed, "We're not six months late, we're 12 years late."

"Why would you tell us 12 years?" Mac frowned at the woman.

"He's coming…" she stepped back, glancing at the house, seeming a little on edge now.

"You said six months," the Doctor agreed, "Why did you say six months?"

"We've got to go…"

"This matters. This is important. Why did you say six months?"

"Why did you say five minutes?!" she snapped back at him, startling him.

"What?" the Doctor blinked.

"Come on."

"What?"

"Oh not again," Mac mock-moaned, "Just…come on Doctor!" she grabbed his arm and pulled him on, the ginger woman already rushing off.

"What?!"

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

~8~

"So you're Amelia Pond then?" Mac reasoned as they followed her down a village lane a short distance from her house. Her hand was in the Doctor's as she led him on.

He seemed to have developed a bit of a nervous twitch sort of thing after she'd gotten his handcuff off…he stopped walking if she let go of his hand. Well, it was more like if she let go of his hand and didn't pull him on, he'd stop and get distracted by something beside him. He seemed a bit TOO pleased when she'd take his hand again.

"And you're late," Amelia muttered, stalking down the road.

"You can't be the little Scottish girl…"

"I AM the little Scottish girl, and you're late."

"What happened?" the Doctor looked at her, hearing a very deep anger in her voice and flinching unintentionally. He still heard anger and…well, he thought of Mac, the last her, how angry she'd been. He didn't like people being angry with him. And if he could do anything to fix it, he would.

"12 years."

"You hit us with a cricket bat!"

"12 _years_."

"A cricket bat!"

"12 years and four psychiatrists."

"Really?" Mac frowned, "Four?"

"I kept biting them," Amelia muttered.

"My sister was a biter."

"Why would you bite them?" the Doctor glanced at her.

Amelia looked back at them, slowly coming to a stop, "They said you weren't real."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

They looked over to see that the voice sounded much closer than just above them and was, in fact, coming from a ice cream truck parked only a few feet away.

Amelia groaned, "No, no, no, come on… What? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van?"

The Time Lords rushed for the van, "What's that?" the Doctor called to the vendor, "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune," the vendor shrugged.

The Doctor picked up the player and listened to it, "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

"It's everywhere," Mac frowned, spotting a jogger fiddling with their MP3 player, and another woman frowning at her mobile, "Basics…it's never good when it affects the entire planet."

"What's happening?" Amelia frowned, seeing them exchange a solemn look.

But they didn't answer. Instead, the Doctor just turned and ran for the nearest house, hopping over a low white fence and into the garden, Mac right after him as Amelia scurried after them, tugging at her skirt as she went.

"Hello!" the Doctor shouted as he and Mac ran into the house, seeing a little old woman standing before the telly, flicking through the channels but they were all playing the same eye that they'd seen through the crack in Amelia's wall, "Sorry to burst in, we're doing a special on television faults in this area."

"As well as crime," Mac offered, glancing at Amelia, and back to the woman, "You really should lock your doors you know."

"Let's have a look," the Doctor snatched the remote from the woman and flicked through the channels himself.

"I was just about to phone," the woman smiled, "It's on every channel. Hello, Amy, dear," she smiled at Amelia as well, "Are you a policewoman now?"

"Well, sometimes," Amelia-now-Amy flushed.

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I can be a nurse."

"Or, actually, a nun."

"I dabble."

"As fascinating as that is," Mac cut in a bit, giving Amy an amused look, "We ought to focus on the telly, shouldn't we Doctor?" she gave him a pointed look, the man have sort of stopped flicking and glanced at her and Amy when the woman started discussing her various costumes.

'_What?_' Mac frowned, seeing him blinking at her.

'_Nothing!_' he flushed and quickly turned back to the television, rushing behind it to look at the back of it, not about to even let it slip through his mind that he may or may not have gotten a brief flash of picturing Mac dressed as a nurse, a nurse to his Doctor, but perhaps in a skirt about the same length as Amy's was...

"Amy, who is your friend?" the woman glanced at them.

"I take it you've shortened your name to Amy then?" Mac guessed.

"Yeah," Amy nodded.

"Oh why would you go and do that?" the Doctor whined a bit, "Amelia Pond, that was a great name."

"Bit fairy tale."

"I know you, don't I?" the woman looked between them, "I've seen you somewhere before."

"Not me at least," the Doctor came back from around the telly, "Brand-new face..." he stretched his face out widely to show it off, "First time on. Not quite so for Kenzie here."

"Ever been around London or UNIT?" she inquired of the woman.

"No," the woman blinked.

"Then we haven't met either. Though, as WE have met," she turned to Amy, "And you were a little girl not five minutes ago…what exactly is a kissogram?"

"I go to parties and I kiss people," Amy cleared her throat, "With outfits. It's a laugh."

"What would possess you to kiss random strangers? A lovely girl like you? Haven't you got a boyfriend?"

"You're worse than my aunt," Amy muttered.

The Doctor snorted at that, "And she hasn't even got going yet."

"Nice, Doctor," Mac rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes you are," he nodded, sending her a wink before he picked up a radio and flashed the sonic at it, "Ok," he frowned, hearing the same message in different languages, "So it's everywhere, in every language."

"Which means they're likely broadcasting to the whole world as a warning," Mac murmured, heading for the window and glancing out, "The Sycorax did that, the 456 as well…but through people…"

The Doctor sighed, thinking about that, the 456, rather nasty aliens that had taken control of the children of Earth and used them to convey messages, had demanded about 10% of them or something for payment or they'd kill all of them. Torchwood had gotten involved and lost Ianto Jones for it before they'd managed to stop them. He had no idea why, but the TARDIS hadn't alerted them to the danger Earth was in, they hadn't even realized something happened to Ianto till after they'd gone to Earth to try and see Jack and his team again and been told by Gwen Cooper about it. They didn't know what it was, it wasn't a fixed point, he hadn't broken the phone lines…the only thing they could think of was that the TARDIS's circuits were still a bit fried from when they'd stopped the Trickster. It had only happened a month later and they hadn't even gotten a quarter of the repairs made by then. It would be easy for the circuits to have malfunctioned. They both felt incredibly guilty about it, about having not been there when such a terrible event was occurring, especially with children involved, but there was little they could do after the fact without distorting the timelines.

"What's up there?" Amy called to Mac, "What are you looking for?"

Mac shook her head though and came back in, looking at the Doctor, "Not visible yet, the ships are likely too far away or haven't descended yet. We have about 20 minutes."

"20 minutes?"

The Doctor nodded, moving to Mac's side, putting an arm around her waist to stabilize himself as he leaned over to look out the window again, only taking a glance before he spun back around, moving his one arm off her and his other around her shoulder, "Planet this size with two poles and a basic molten core, they'll need a 40% fission blast," he glanced over as a young, rather buff man entered with a laptop under his arm, "But they'll have to power up first," he moved over to the man, his eyes slightly narrow, "Assuming a medium-sized starship, that's 20 minutes," he moved on his toes, sizing the man up, "Just as Kenzie said. We've got 20 minutes."

"20 minutes to what?"

"Save the planet," Mac told her.

"Are you the Doctor?" the young man asked, "And Kenny?"

"Mackenzie," Mac corrected, blinking at how odd that was that he'd thought her a boy apparently if his stunned gaze was anything to go by. Well, one day she could be a 'Kenny' instead of a 'Kenzie' she sort of liked Mac for that reason, could be a girl or boy's name which was good as one never knew what they'd get with regeneration.

"They are!" the old woman cheered, "They're the Doctor and Kenny!"

"Kenzie," the Doctor corrected this time.

But the old woman was just too thrilled to see them, "The Raggedy Doctor and his Nurse Kenny!"

"Kenzie."

"All those cartoons you did when you were little," the woman looked at Amy, "It's them! The Raggedy Doctor, Nurse Kenny."

"Kenzie!" the Doctor snapped, "It's Kenzie! Mac-Kenzie!"

Mac blinked, "It's alright Doctor," she told him, a bit startled he was getting that offended over her name. She had been telling Wilf the truth, humans were growing on her more in this new body than her last, but…she wasn't quite to the point of loving them as much as the Doctor did. She hadn't really cared to know them or love them in her last body, but this one was a little more fond of them. It didn't really matter to her whether or not a handful of humans knew her name.

"No it's not," the Doctor huffed, "Your name is lovely, and it should be said properly."

"And she was 7 years old," Mac reminded him, "Met us for all of an hour, things get skewed over time."

"She remembered me," the Doctor pointed out, not seeing Amy start to blush a bit at that.

"Yes…" Mac nodded slowly, SHE had caught that at least, and shifted a bit, "Well you are rather impressive."

He blinked this time and smiled, "Am I?"

Mac rolled her eyes, "You will be if we can _save the planet_," she looked at him pointedly.

"Gran," the boy whispered to the old woman, the two of them still staring at the aliens, "It's them, isn't it? It's really them!"

"Jeff, shut up!" Amy snapped, spinning to the Time Lords, "20 minutes to save the planet?"

"The 'human residence' is what many other species, especially those in law enforcement, term a planet," Mac explained, having learned that after dealing with the Judoon quite a few times.

"Yes," the Doctor sighed, "Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship and it's going to incinerate the planet. 20 minutes to the end of the world."

"So we'd best get cracking then," Mac smiled.

The Doctor beamed, "UNIT's finest," he joked, making her laugh before they ran out of the house, Amy after them, looking more than a bit exasperated.

~8~

Mac smiled softly as she saw a young boy running down one of the roads with a little toy helicopter in his hand, completely oblivious that there was anything wrong. But, then again, most humans were as well. Until they actually SAW a space ship, they'd likely think that the message was some sort of glitch with the emergency broadcasting networks.

"What is this place?" the Doctor asked, looking around, clearly it was NOT London, "Where are we?"

"Leadworth," Mac answered, "I managed a quick scan during our jump."

"Where's the rest of it?"

"This is it," Amy shrugged.

"Is there an airport?"

"No."

"A nuclear power station?"

"No."

"Even a little one?"

"No."

"Nearest city?"

"Gloucester, half an hour by car."

"We don't have half an hour. Do we have a car?"

"No."

"We would have had the TARDIS if she weren't rebuilding," Mac sighed, looking around for anything that might help them, she always had been the better of the two at seeing the resources at their disposal.

"Well, that's good!" he huffed, "Fantastic, that is. 20 minutes to save the world and we've got a post office. And it's shut! WHAT is that?" he pointed to the side, before rushing off towards a small duck pond a few feet away.

"Looks like a puddle," Mac observed.

"It's a duck pond," Amy corrected.

"How can you tell?" Mac frowned, "There aren't any ducks."

"There's never any ducks."

"So how is it a duck pond then?"

"It just is. Why do you care about the duck pond?"

"I like ponds," Mac shrugged, "Ponds, oceans, streams, rivers, creaks…"

"Water," the Doctor cut in, "She likes water, best swimmer in the Academy."

Mac shook her head, "I wasn't the best, I was decent. Never won any awards…"

"Well..." he grinned suggestively at her.

"That one did NOT count!" Mac huffed, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Still an award."

"What award?" Amy glanced between them.

"Best swimsu…"

Mac quickly made the 'stop talking' motion to quiet him, "We do not bring that up in front of little girls."

"I'm 19!" Amy huffed.

"And we're over 900, you're a toddler to us," Mac shrugged.

"We should go to the beach," the Doctor suggested.

Mac gave him a look, his mind was really all over the place wasn't it? "How about we do that AFTER we stop whatever's about to destroy the planet?"

"Yes, yes," he sighed, "I suppose, if we must."

"So what do we do?" Amy shook her head, not having a clue what they were talking about.

"I don't know," the Doctor suddenly winced as a pain hit him in the chest, a small burst of regeneration energy escaping him, "Why would I know?" he plopped on the ground, clutching at his chest, "I'm not ready," he looked at Mac, "I'm not done yet."

Mac knelt beside him and leaned over, pressing her ear to his chest to listen to his hearts pounding away and getting faster the longer she listened. And he didn't appear to be breathing either, so she pulled back and looked at him, to see him staring at her, "It helps if you breathe," she reminded him, "Helps slow your hearts down."

"I doubt that'll happen with you next to me," he gave her a soft smile, a pointed look, "And you take my breath away as it is."

"This is more serious than I thought," Mac frowned, reaching out to put a hand to his forehead to check for fever, his eyes drifting shut with a happy smile on his face, a content look about him, "You feel a bit warm…"

"Would you say I'm…hot?" he joked, cracking an eye open.

"I think you may actually have a fever yes," Mac nodded…when the sky suddenly darkened.

They looked up, frowning to see that the sun looked a bit gray, only to flicker and almost look normal but more blotted.

"What's happening?" Amy blinked, squinting, "Why's it going dark? What's wrong with the sun?"

"That's what the sun looks like through a force field," Mac informed her, "And that means whoever's out there has sealed the upper atmosphere. Come on," she held out a hand to the Doctor, standing and helping him up as well.

"Oh, and here they come," the Doctor scoffed when he looked over to see that the humans around them, who had also noticed the change in the sun, had stopped to, of all things, take pictures of it, "The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone!"

"This isn't real, is it?" Amy turned to them, "This is some kind of big wind-up."

"What would be the point in winding you up?" Mac frowned, not following.

"You told me you had a time machine."

"And you believed me," the Doctor nodded.

"Then I grew up."

"Oh, you never want to do that. No, hang on, shut up, wait!" he spun around, "I missed it!" he smacked his forehead.

"Do that again Doctor and you'll really give yourself brain damage with all the smacks to your head," Mac muttered dryly.

"Did YOU see it?" he pointed at Mac.

"I was too busy checking on you," she told him.

"Checking me out you mean?" he started to grin "No, no, focus, _I_ saw it and I missed it," he smacked himself again…and then winced and rubbed his head, he probably should really stop doing that, "What did I see?" he spun around again, realizing what it was he'd missed, "20 minutes," he nodded to himself, looking at Mac, "We can do it. 20 minutes, the planet burns," he turned to Amy, "Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help us."

"No," Amy decided.

"I'm sorry?"

"No!" she reached out and grabbed the Doctor by his long tie, dragging him off.

"Amy stop it!" Mac called, rushing after her, "We don't have the time!"

"No!" the Doctor struggled, "No! What are you doing?" but Amy just turned and pushed him against a car just as a man stepped out of it, slamming the door shut on his tie before she locked the door with the remote she'd nicked off the driver, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Who are you?" Amy demanded.

"We already told you," Mac caught up to them, starting to dig around in her pockets, "Mackenzie," she pointed to herself, and then the Doctor, "And the Doctor."

"No, really, who are you?" Amy looked between them.

"Look at the sky!" the Doctor struggled to get the tie out, "End of the world, 20 minutes."

"Better talk quickly, then!"

"Oh honestly Amy," Mac pulled out her pocket knife, walking over and cutting right across the tie, freeing the Doctor though now he only had half a tie, "Now give the nice man back his car keys."

Amy looked over at the driver that was blinking and staring at her with his hand still raised where he'd gotten out of the car. She sighed and handed them back.

The Doctor pulled the apple from his pocket and tossed it to Amy, knowing they still needed to convince her or she'd just tag along, asking question and countering them at every corner when they needed cooperation, "Catch. Kenzie and I ARE time travelers," he told her, "Everything we told you 12 years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real."

Amy started to shake her head, "I don't believe you."

"Well then that's your problem," Mac cut in, getting more than a bit impatient with the girl, the entire fate of the planet was at stake and she had been ready to leave the Doctor trapped in a car door, "So while you sort out the fact that we're real and that's the same apple from 12 years ago, we'll be over there saving the world. Come find us."

"Kenz…" the Doctor began.

But Mac, without looking, just reached back and grabbed what was left of his tie, tugging him off only a step or two before letting go and pushing him on before her, "What did you see before?"

The Doctor sighed, knowing that they really DID need to focus on the matter at hand, "A nurse," he said, before dashing back onto the green and heading for a rather lovely young man with light brown hair, a slightly big nose, dressed in blue nurse scrubs. He ran right up to the boy and nicked his mobile out of his hand, "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"

"Amy?" the boy looked over.

Mac glanced back to see Amy had run after them, the apple clutched firmly in her hand, "Believe us then?"

Amy nodded, but the boy looked more confused, "What's going on?"

"Oh, this is Rory," she awkwardly patted Rory on the shoulder, "He's a...friend."

"Boyfriend," Rory corrected instantly, looking annoyed, which made Mac frown, it sounded almost…expectant, like this was something he did often, had to tell people he was Amy's boyfriend because she didn't.

"_Kind of_ boyfriend," Amy corrected.

"Amy!" Rory huffed.

"I don't really think they come in 'kind ofs,'" Mac remarked, "Unless it's a new human thing…"

"Man and dog," the Doctor cut in, actually being the one to keep on track this time, "Why?"

"Oh…" Rory blinked, staring at them, actually seeming to notice them now, "Oh my God, it's them!"

"Just answer his question, please," Amy nearly begged, starting to blush again, clearly embarrassed.

"It's them, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor and…" he paused, looking at Mac, "Kenny?"

"Kenzie!" the Doctor huffed, "Man and dog, anyone?"

"Mackenzie," Mac added.

"Yeah," Amy nodded, "They came back."

"But they were a story," Rory shook his head, "They were a game!"

The Doctor surged forward and grabbed Rory by the front of his shirt, nearly hefting him up as he pulled him closer, "Man and dog, why? Tell me now."

"Sorry," Rory winced, "Because he can't be there. Because he's…in a hospital, in a coma," he said the last part in unison with the Doctor.

"Knew it," he smirked at Mac, "Multi-form, you see?"

"Doctor?" she gave him a pointed look at Rory.

"Oh, yes, sorry," he slowly let the boy go.

Mac shook her head and stepped over, "You alright?" she asked him, smoothing down the neckline of his scrubs from where the Doctor grabbed him, "Sorry about him."

"No, no, it's fine," Rory blinked, a little startled she was being nice to him.

"Disguise itself as anything, right Mackenzie?" the Doctor called. Mac paused, a little confused as to why he was back to calling her Mackenzie again, and turned to him, seeing him smiling but with a tension in it, "But it needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind…"

"Like that one right there?" Mac nodded behind him, and the Doctor spun around to see the older man and his dog standing behind them, "Hello Prisoner Zero."

"What, there's a Prisoner Zero too?" Rory gaped.

"Yes," Amy sighed, only to look up when an electrical buzz sounded above them and a spaceship descended, a rather large eye, the same one from the telly and the crack swerving around to look at the green, as though searching for something.

"See," the Doctor called, pulling the sonic out of his pocket as he tossed Rory back his phone, "That ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver!" he quickly held it above his head and flicked it on, wincing as chaos erupted. Streetlights shattered, car alarms went off, sirens blared, the humans ran around, screaming, including a team of firemen who began to chase after their fire truck as it rolled down a hill.

"Well," Mac shouted above the noise, "For once your dramatics are a good thing. They'll definitely notice that!"

The Doctor grinned, going for a bigger finish and aimed the sonic at a phone box, making it explode…only for it to be too much for the poor sonic as it started to spark and smoke in his hand, making him snap his hand back and drop it to the ground, "No, no, no, don't do that!"

"Look!" Rory pointed to the sky as the ship started to drift away, "It's going."

"No, come back, he's here! Come back! He's here, Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is..."

"Escaping down the sewer drain," Mac sighed as the alien did just that, turned into a mist and sort of just drifted down through the grating in the drain.

"It just sort of melted and went down the drain…" Amy stared at it, moving to lean over the drain and try to see it.

"Best not," Mac gently tugged her back, concerned for the girl as they didn't know what Zero might try to do next.

"Well, of course it did," the Doctor huffed, picking up his dead sonic and trying to see if he could possibly salvage it.

"What do we do now?" Amy looked at them.

"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, 17 minutes…" he started to pace, "Come on, think. Think!"

"So that thing, THAT hid in my house for 12 years?"

"Multi-forms can live for thousands of years," Mac told her, "A decade or so isn't all that long."

"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do?" Amy shook her head, "The same minute?"

"They got a trace on us when they sent the message to the psychic paper. They tracked us down and came after us. If we'd managed to get the TARDIS working properly we'd have been here five minutes later."

"It's not my fault!" the Doctor suddenly declared.

Mac blinked, "I…didn't say it was," she frowned at him.

"Oh," he nodded, "Right, sorry, it's just…" he shrugged, "Usually when the piloting's off, everyone usually blames me."

Mac gave him a sad smile, knowing that by 'everyone' he really meant 'SHE' blamed him, "I'm not the best pilot either," she offered him, "Especially not when things are exploding around me and time is of the essence. It was just as much my fault as yours."

The Doctor smiled at her, "Thanks," he…really liked this new her. He loved every version of her, but he could admit this new her was…nicer to him, more understanding and he got the feeling that would be very much needed in the future. He felt like this new him was a bit…more rambunctious, a bit more of a handful and would probably get them all into much worse situations than his last self. He certainly felt more curious and excitable than he remembered his last self being.

"What exactly is she talking about?" Rory whispered to Amy, who just shrugged, not entirely sure herself.

"Now, sport," the Doctor turned to Rory, "Give me your phone."

"How can they be real? They were never real."

"Phone, now, give me!"

"Please," Mac emphasized, sending the Doctor a look even though Rory was already handing over the phone.

"They were just a game," Rory continued, "We were kids. You made me dress up as Nurse Kenny to play 'The Doctor' with you."

Mac blinked and glanced at Rory's scrubs, his ID reading that he was currently a nurse as the Doctor had guessed. She had to wonder, given Rory's clear affection for Amy, if he'd only gone for his 'nursing' career because he'd played Nurse 'Kenny' (likely a male nurse to the boy) because Amy clearly saw herself more like the Doctor and it was a way to at least remain in her life as a duo.

"These are all coma patients?" the Doctor called and Mac looked back over to see him going through the photos on Rory's phone. She made her way over to it, the Doctor holding the phone in such a way that she had to rest a hand on his arm and lean over slightly to see the various men and women just walking about…but all with the same blank expressions on their faces.

"Yeah," Rory nodded.

"So that's all the forms Zero's able to take then," Mac mused, "8 so far…"

"He had a dog, though," Amy shook her head, "There's a dog in a coma?"

"If that particular patient is dreaming of his dog than yes, it would appear with Zero," Mac nodded.

"Laptop!" the Doctor called, spinning around to Amy, "Your friend, what was his name? Not him," he waved Rory off, "The good-looking one."

"Thanks," Rory huffed, looking down but also looking far too used to that, the fact that Amy immediately answered with 'Jeff,' didn't help either, "Oh, thanks."

"Beauty is subjective," Mac winked at Rory, making him blink, a little startled at that. But she couldn't help it, Amy, the boy's own girlfriend clearly didn't think he was 'good looking' if she instantly knew the Doctor was talking about Jeff. A true girlfriend would have countered with 'Rory' or even said 'Rory's the good-looking one' or 'Rory's right here, who were you talking about?' not just…Jeff.

"He had a laptop in his bag," the Doctor continued, "A laptop. Big bag, big laptop, I need Jeff's laptop. You two, get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done," he turned to run off when…

"I'll go with you," Mac offered the humans.

The Doctor turned right around, "What?"

"I'm going to go with them to the hospital," she said, the humans stopping as well in their own turn to dart off.

"No, but you can't."

"Why not?" she frowned.

"Because…I…_I_ need your help."

"You're going to get a _laptop_ Doctor," she smiled a bit, "My paperclips and pocket knife won't be needed. They may need me to pick a lock or something," she nodded at the humans.

"But…"

"We don't know where Zero went," she pointed out, "IF the alien's gone to the hospital too, back to the coma ward, they'll need one of us there with them."

"What if Zero goes to Jeff's?" he asked, even though they all knew that was a rather rubbish excuse.

"Then you'll be able to handle him," she told him, "I know you Doctor, you can handle anything any alien throws at you. Even me," her smile turned sad at that. She still felt SO guilty over what she'd done to him, how she'd treated him, "If you could handle who I was…you can handle anything."

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair, NOT liking this.

"Go on," she nodded him off, "You'll be fine. You're just fantastic," she added the last word with a small wink, making him smile at it, knowing she'd probably had files of his 'favored word' from his 9th self.

"Well you're stunning," he countered.

"And I'll have two humans to help me out," she added, "We'll keep each other safe. You worry about the ship, leave Zero to me. You'll save the earth yet."

"You really think so?" he started to smile.

"I do."

"Bet your life on it?"

"With you working at it?" she nodded, " Yeah," she took a breath, "Always."

He smiled at that, touched, and nodded, "Fine, fine, fine, go, go, go," he shooed her off.

"Rory's car is over here," Amy called and the three of them ran off, cramming into the small mini while the Doctor ran back towards Jeff's house.

~8~

They'd made it to the hospital not quite as quickly as Mac would have preferred but as Leadworth was such a small town, there were quite a few people walking about and crossing streets and the hospital was just a mess to get into and park near. And they soon found out why.

"Something's happened up there," Rory returned to Mac and Amy as they stood in the hall of the hospital, Amy on her mobile, while Mac looked around, keeping an eye open for Zero, "We can't get through."

The hall was blocked off ahead of them, the stairwells closed down there as well, and they all knew that the original suspicion that Zero had gone back to the coma ward was confirmed.

"Yes, but what's happened?" Amy dialed again.

"I don't know. No one knows. Phone him."

"She's been doing," Mac sighed, "I warned her though, the Doctor's rubbish at answering phones when people call him. Look, Amy," she reached out and took the phone from her, "We don't need to call him."

"But we can't get through!" Amy huffed.

"You DO realize you're still dressed as a POLICE officer yes?"

Amy blinked and looked down, "Right," she laughed a bit and started to put her hair up, getting ready to play the role.

Rory and Mac stayed behind as Amy strode right up to one of the officials, her hands on her hips, seeming very authoritative in posture, and was quickly let through. She held up a hand and turned to them, beckoning them over and they dashed off after her.

Mac looked down, seeing a text on the phone, 'On my way!' from Rory's phone and knew it was the Doctor. She was just hoping he both got there in time and hadn't stolen something too flashy like a sports car or a school bus or a fire truck or anything to get there as she doubted he'd jog there and the TARDIS was out of commission.

She got into a lift at the end of the hall, Rory hitting the button for the coma ward and up they went, stepping out onto the floor only to stop short. It was wrecked. There were gurneys everywhere, tables over turned, scrubs torn on the ground, utensils and other medical equipment scattered about…and there, right in the middle of the hall was an older woman with short brown hair, holding the hands of two little girls on either side of her in dark dresses.

"Officer," the woman greeted.

"Careful," Mac whispered to her, putting the phone behind her back to text the Doctor, "It's Zero."

Amy glanced at her but Mac nodded towards the woman's face, her expression, along with the identical expressions of her 'daughters' as blank as the man with the dog's had been. She took a breath and faced the woman again, trying not to let on that she knew, "What happened?"

"There was a man," the woman stated, her voice flat, "A man with a dog. I think Dr. Ramsden's dead. And the nurses."

Mac pulled the phone out as it started to ring, only seconds after she'd sent the text 'Zero's here' to Rory's phone, "Doctor," she answered.

"Prisoner Zero's there!?" he nearly shouted.

"Yes," she kept her gaze on the three women.

"You need to get out of there."

"No, I hadn't realized that," she muttered.

"He was so angry," the woman spoke again, thankfully unable to hear the Doctor over the phone, but all three of them could see that the woman's voice was coming out of one of her daughters, "He kept shouting. And that dog, the size of that dog, I swear it was rabid. And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies."

The woman's head twitched to look at Mac as she slowly started backing Amy and Rory up, moving herself in front of them in the process and subtly handing Amy the phone to free her hands, "Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I?" the actual woman spoke this time, "I'm always doing that. So many mouths," she smirked before she opened her mouth wide, as did her 'daughters' to reveal their rather sharp, thin teeth.

"Oh, my God!" Rory stared in horror.

"Kenzie!?" the Doctor was shouting over the phone, "What's happening?"

"Run!" Mac turned and pushed the humans on, through a set of double doors, pushing a broom handle through the handles to buy them time.

"Mackenzie! Talk to me!"

Mac ignored the Doctor's shouts and ran to the window, looking out and down and up, checking their position, their possible escape, and the sky for the ship as well.

"We're in the coma ward," Amy answered on the phone, "But it's here, it's getting in."

"Which window are you?"

"What, sorry?"

"Which window?"

"I'll make it obvious Doctor!" Mac shouted, grabbing a sheet off the nearest coma patent and throwing it out the window, slamming the window down onto it so it was like a small flag signaling where they were. She wasn't going to risk Amy or Rory trying to recall their exact location by window position, it was easier to make it as obvious as possible.

"Oh, dear," Zero called as she shoved the doors open, the broom handle snapping easily as she entered, "Little Amelia Pond. I've watched you grow up. 12 years, and you never even knew I was there. Little Amelia Pond, waiting for her magic Doctor to return, but not this time, Amelia."

Mac pulled Amy behind her as Zero opened her mouth to reveal her teeth, when the phone pinged. Amy looked down at the text for a moment before she grabbed Mac this time and pulled her, and Rory, down to the ground just as a large ladder from a fire truck broke through the window Mac had stuck the sheet out of. Moments later the Doctor climbed through and hopped down into the room.

"Kenzie!" he cheered, rushing forward to hug her tightly, "You're alright yeah?"

"Would be better if…you know…" she nodded to Zero.

The Doctor glanced over, "Right! Hello!" he smiled at the alien, "Am I late?"

"Three minutes left," Mac glanced at a clock.

"So still time then. Excellent."

"Time for what, Time Lords?" Zero asked, frowning between them.

Mac stiffened, "How do you know who we are?"

"The Doctor?" the woman scoffed, "The legends of him and his Chosen are far spread."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed at that as Mac frowned, why did people keep calling her his Chosen? They weren't and…and she wasn't…she just…she didn't know how she felt about that.

"Take the disguise off," the Doctor ordered, "They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."

"Ok," he sighed, "You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again, just leave."

"I don't think it was her, Doctor," Mac remarked, "To do something like that…" she shook her head, "It would be beyond the tech available to a prisoner."

"I did not open the crack," Zero agreed.

"Well somebody did," he reasoned.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe," Zero eyed them, "Don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you?" it realized, "The Time Lords in the TARDIS don't know," the 'mother' spoke in her daughter's voice, growing taunting in quality, "Don't know, don't know!" before it returned to normal, "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

The Doctor glanced at the wall as he heard a click sound and grinned, "And we're off! Look at that!" he cheered, pointing at the clock that now read 0:00, "Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is?" he snapped his finger and pointed at Mac.

"At a guess?" she laughed, "0?"

"Correctamundo!" he chuckled, "Now, you know, if one of us was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, we'd take that as a hint. And if we had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, we'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?"

"Maybe for you," she joked, nudging him playfully.

"Oi," he poked her back, "YOU're the one whose all paperclips and rubber bands!"

"AND the computers and tech expert at UNIT," she reminded him.

"There IS that," he agreed before pulling Rory's mobile out of his pocket, "The source, by the way, is right here."

"I think they've found us," Mac smirked, seeing a bright light start to shine through the windows, coming from the sky and moving too rapidly to NOT be a spaceship.

"The Atraxi are limited," Zero sneered, "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

"Yeah," the Doctor could see the point in that, "But this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of _you_. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is…no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare," he threw out his arms in triumph, "Who da man?"

Silence.

"Oh, I'm never saying that again," he lowered his arms.

"That WAS fairly terrible," Mac patted his shoulder.

"Fine," he muttered.

"Still you DID save the world," she reminded him.

"I shall take just a new form then," Zero threatened.

"Oh, stop it," the Doctor waved her off, "You know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

The smirk on Zero's face worried them, "And I've had years," the alien began to glow…and Amy collapsed to the ground behind them.

"Amy!" Rory shouted, catching her and lowering her down.

"What?" Mac spun around, "Amy!" she rushed over with the Doctor, "Amelia," she dropped to her knees, quickly checking the girl over.

"You've got to hold on," the Doctor told her, "Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please."

"Um…Doctor?" Rory stared past them at something.

The Doctor and Mac turned to see the Doctor standing there with his hands behind his back, "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

"You," Mac and Rory told him.

"Me?" he frowned, looking back at them, "Is that what I look like?"

"You don't know?" Rory gave him an odd look for that.

"Busy day," he shrugged, glancing at Mac, "Can you…" he nodded at Amy.

"I was going to anyway," she shooed him away, moving closer to Amy and feeling her forehead, and cheeks, trying to wake her up.

The Doctor nodded and faced Zero, "Why be me?" he asked the alien, "You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not," a small, Scottish voice from behind his image called and little Amelia stepped out from behind him, holding her Doctor's hand, "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."

"What about Kenzie then?" he scoffed, "She was there too."

"Didn't make as much of an impact on an impressionable young girl I suppose?" the little Amelia shrugged.

Mac smirked though, not as put off by that as Zero had probably hoped, "You know what else made an impression on her?" Mac looked at Zero, "YOU did," and turned back to Amy, "Amy, listen to me. I know you can hear me. You're ok, YOU aren't in a coma, your mind is still active, it's just feeding Zero to maintain her shape. So you need to think about that room you went into, think about Zero, think about what you saw. We know you saw what Zero actually looks like…think on it, hold it in your mind…"

"No!" Zero started to thrash about as the Doctor looked back with a smirk, watching as Zero began to glow once more, a transformation being forced on her, "No...no!"

"Well done, Prisoner Zero," he clapped, seeing a rather large eel-like alien with sharp teeth before him now, "A perfect impersonation of yourself."

"Prisoner Zero is located!" the voice called from outside as the light locked onto the alien, trapping it, "Prisoner Zero is restrained."

"Silence, Doctor," Zero hissed at him even as it started to fade away, "Silence will fall."

The Doctor waited only a moment till it was fully gone before he ran to the window and looked out, seeing the ship with the eyeball start to fly away and shook his head, pulling out Rory's mobile again and dialing.

"The sun," Rory frowned "It's back to normal, right? That's...that's good, yeah? That means it's over."

"Amy?" Mac whispered, trying not to be too loud as Amy would likely have a rather bad headache because of this, "You alright?" she gently helped the girl sit up, "Head hurt a bit?"

Amy nodded and winced, pressing a hand to her head, "What happened?"

"He did it," Rory told her, "The Doctor did it."

"No, I didn't," the Doctor shook his head.

Mac sighed and stood, "Need any help?"

"What are you doing?" Rory frowned as Mac went over to look over the Doctor's shoulder at what he was doing.

"Trying to tracking the signal back…" he glanced at Rory, "Sorry, in advance."

"About what?"

"I imagine the bill to call a spaceship would be rather a bit much," Mac assumed.

"Oi!" the Doctor frowned, serious as he managed to contact the ship, "We didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What, did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here. Now!" he ended the call and tossed the phone to Rory, "Ok. _Now _I've done it."

"Well come on then," Mac turned to lead the way out of the room, "You can't leave them waiting after you've called them back, that's just rude."

"Did he just bring them back?" Rory shouted as Amy dashed off after them, "Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?" he sighed and pushed himself to his feet, running off.

"Where are you going?" Amy called, catching up to the Time Lords as they strode down the halls.

"The roof," Mac sighed, "It's the only place large enough and open enough and close enough to speak to them…"

"No," the Doctor suddenly veered to the side, "Hang on," and entered a changing room, starting to rummage around the clothes.

"What's in here?" Amy glanced around as he started throwing clothes away and keeping some.

"I'm saving the world, I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!"

"Now?" Mac scoffed, "You're going to do this now?" she shook her head, "You've got an entire wardrobe in the TARDIS and you want to steal clothes from an Earth hospital? You really need to meet with them first."

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory seemed to be of the same agreement as Mac on that, "Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're…" he sighed as the Doctor began to pull off his shirt, "Taking your clothes off...Amy, he's taking his clothes off. Mackenzie he's…"

"I'm aware Rory," Mac smiled softly at him, trying to offer him reassurance as his girlfriend decided to watch the alien strip.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor called.

"You stealing clothes," Rory tried to repeat what Mac had said, "Those clothes belong to people, you know," before he huffed and turned his back…but Amy didn't, "Are you not you going to turn your back?"

"Nope," Amy smirked.

Mac frowned, "Amy, if you're going to watch anyone strip, it'll be your _boyfriend_," she reminded the girl.

But Amy just shrugged, "Fine by me."

Mac's frown deepened, glancing over to the Doctor to see him about to undo his pants, and grabbed Amy's arm to forcibly turn her around, "Your boyfriend is RORY," she emphasized, incase Amy had just…forgotten that detail, that her boyfriend was the timid human boy beside her and NOT the Time Lord in the back.

"Killjoy," Amy grumbled.

Mac just looked at her a long moment, before she caught sight of Rory's downed expression, she knew it had to have been just another nail to his heart to hear his girlfriend essentially verbalize that she wished (or possibly even thought) the Doctor was her boyfriend instead.

"You know," the Doctor called back, "Talking about boyfriends, it's ok if YOU want to look Kenzie."

Mac shook her head, "You're NOT my boyfriend Doctor."

She tried VERY hard not to see the pleased smirk on Amy's face at that declaration…and to push down the sort of…odd stirring in her stomach, like a faint weight there, at the thought that Amy was happy the Doctor was single…at the idea that the Doctor was even single to being with.

"You're apparently my Chosen though," he reminded her, "How many people have called you that so far?"

"None that count," she countered, "It's a future that's not set in stone Doctor."

He paused in his dressing to glance back at her knowing that his last self would have felt a pang of hurt at that…but this him? He couldn't help but grin.

Challenge accepted.

~8~

Amy and Rory watched as the Doctor and Mac strode right across the roof of the hospital and towards the ship with the giant eyeball sticking out of it. The Doctor was now in a long sleeved, pinkish shirt with new pants that had braces on them. There were quite a few ties dangling from around his neck as he couldn't quite seem to pick which one he liked best in the changing room, something about the lighting. Poor Rory had been left to carry the three or so jackets that the Doctor felt would be proper for his outfit, but it would all depend upon the tie he chose, he'd said. Mac had just shaken her head and said that they'd likely never see him in another outfit besides the one he chose then.

"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy shifted as they came to a stop in the middle of the roof, "They were leaving."

"He was very cautious to demand them back, actually," Mac remarked, making the Doctor beam and stick out his tongue at Amy, "If you can make sure they leave and never come back…that's always the best option, and I'd hate to have to call in favors from UNIT to have them destroy the ships upon departure," she gave the ship a firm look for that.

The Doctor just patted her shoulder, "Let's give them a chance first," he laughed, "Come on, then!" he called up to the eye, "The Doctor will see you now!"

The eyeball disconnected from the ship and floated down to the Doctor and Mac scanning the both of them as they stood side by side, "You are not of this world."

"You're right, we're not, but we've both put a lot of work into it," he glanced at a tie, getting distracted, "I don't know. What do you think?" he held it up.

"Doctor, stop using your mouth and start using your brain," she murmured to him, "Focus."

"Is this world important?" the Atraxi asked.

"Important?" the Doctor nearly laughed at the absurdity of the question, "What's that mean, important?" he tossed the tie back to Rory, "_6 billion people_ live here, is that important?"

"Actually, why don't you answer this," Mac offered, "Is Earth a threat to you?"

"Well, come on," the Doctor urged them, throwing another tie to Amy this time, "You're monitoring the whole planet. IS this world a threat?"

A projection shot out of the Atraxi and formed a small circular holographic monitor, showing them various bits of Earth and its history, "No."

"Well then did they break any of your laws?" Mac put her hands on her hips, giving the eye a look.

The projection shifted to various historical events, "No."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, smiling, "One more. Just one. Is this world protected?" he asked it, "Because you're not the first lot to come here," he watched as the projection shifted once more to images of all the alien enemies that had ever come to Earth, the Cybermen and Daleks, Racnoss and Sycorax, the Sontarans and Reapers, "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is...what happened to them?"

He stepped away from the projection and over to Amy, having selected a tie and now in need of a coat. Mac stood there though, watching the projection move through all of the Doctor's past incarnations, though she was a bit startled to see her last self mixed in there at the end, working in her lab at UNIT just in between his 9th and 10th self…she would have to investigate how they got that image.

But the Doctor disrupted the feed as he stepped through the image of his 10th self and smirked at the Atraxi, "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically...run!"

Mac shook her head at him as the Atraxi immediately flew back to its ship and the entire thing bolted off into the sky. But her gaze was pulled away when she saw the Doctor flinch and stepped over to him to check if he was hurt…to see him pulling out the TARDIS key, it was glowing. He grinned at her and took her hand, pulling her off as Amy and Rory ran to the edge of the roof to watch the ship fly away, the two of them making their way down and down and down and out of the building, racing across the courtyard and roads and streets till they made it back to Amy's home. They slowed as they reached the back garden to see the TARDIS, blue as ever, standing there looking good as new.

"Ok," the Doctor breathed as they slowly made their way towards it, "What have you got for us this time?"

He looked at Mac and she smiled, reaching out with her necklace key and unlocking the door, pushing them open as they stood there, staring in amazement at what lay beyond. The ship looked more…organic but still very mechanical, borderline whimsical if they had to guess. There was a space beneath the console with steps leading down to it, no more grating, and the console itself which was less sharp and more curved. The captain's chair was replaced by a jump seat and the Y-beams were gone. There seemed to be a set of stairs to the left that led to the halls, and a set of stairs to the right to an upper level.

"Oh you're kidding me," Mac muttered, looking down at the floor.

"What?" the Doctor turned to her, smiling, "I think she's beautiful," he looked at her a moment longer, giving her the feeling he wasn't just talking about the ship before he glanced at it again, "Look at you! Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!" he laughed and turned back to Mac, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's got a glass floor," Mac gestured to it.

The Doctor blinked at that, recalling that Mac (and Amy it seemed) favored wearing skirts… "Right…"

Mac sighed and shook her head, "Developed a sense of humor have you?" she called to the ship as it seemed to hum back at her.

The Doctor chuckled, "Come on," he put his hand to the small of her back and urged her in, the doors shutting behind them just as Amy and Rory ran into the garden…the TARDIS disappearing moments later.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac slowly and quietly slipped out of the TARDIS and into Amy's back garden one night, waiting as they heard a rummaging in the house and saw Amy rush out the back door, in a nightie, dressing gown, and small tennis shoes, heading for them.

"Sorry about running off earlier," the Doctor winced a bit, "Brand-new TARDIS, bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now."

"It's you," Amy breathed, staring at them…though Mac frowned, seeing she seemed a tiny bit more focused and awed by the Doctor being there, "You came back."

"We tried to," Mac reasoned, cutting of the Doctor, sure that he was going to let out another lie about how he 'always came back' or something.

"And you kept the clothes?" Amy eyed the Doctor's bowtie.

"Well, I just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge," he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, shoot me! I kept the clothes."

"Including the bowtie," she flicked it.

"Yeah," he straightened it, "It's cool. Bow ties are cool."

"That's still to be determined," Mac laughed as he pouted at that, "Learned your lesson from Amy then?"

He sighed, "Long ties get stuck too easily."

"Are you from another planet?" Amy asked suddenly, looking at them both intently now.

"Yes," Mac nodded, "Gallifrey, our people are called Time Lords," she added, "In case that was your next question."

"Ok," Amy breathed, taking that in.

"So what do you think?" the Doctor smiled.

"Of what?"

"Other planets. Want to check some out?"

"What does that mean?"

"He's inviting you to be his companion," Mac told her, "It means…travelling with us."

"But as HIS companion?" Amy emphasized.

"…yes," Mac said slowly, not quite sure why Amy seemed to hone in on THAT particular…not quite sure why she felt a little uneasy about that now.

"Where?"

"Wherever you like," the Doctor shrugged.

Amy paused, thinking about that, "All that stuff, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero..."

"Oh, don't worry," he grinned, "That's just the beginning. There's loads more."

"Yeah, but those things, amazing things, all that stuff..." she suddenly glared at him, "That was two years ago!"

"Oh," the Doctor's eyes widened, "Oh! Oops."

"I tried to tell you Doctor," Mac shook her head at him, amused, "But you were too excited and ran out the door before I could."

"So that's...

"14 years," Mac nodded.

"14 years since fish custard," he winced and looked at Amy, the girl crossing her arms, "Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough."

"When I was a kid," Amy began slowly, "You said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was IN the library."

"Yeah," He started to smile again, "Not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up. So…coming?"

"No!"

"7-year-old you did," Mac reminded her.

"I grew up," she defended.

"No one grows out of adventure," she smiled, "Just…take a peek inside first," she offered and the Doctor snapped his fingers, the doors to the TARDIS opening behind them, a warm orange glow shining out at them.

The Doctor grinned at Mac, excited, as he followed Amy in after she'd slowly entered the box, Mac followed, her smile on her face but…not quite as excited as the Doctor felt. She wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't and couldn't be a designated and official pilot so…she wouldn't ever be able to take on an official companion and he could…or if perhaps it was his choice in companion this time? But that was silly, wasn't it? He'd had so many companions, another wouldn't make a difference and nothing would really change. She was still set in him treating all his companions equally and the same so…he wouldn't treat this Amy differently than say…Donna. Right? No, no he wouldn't.

"Well?" the Doctor grinned, half-hopping up to the console, Mac following more calmly, "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

"Please DON'T say 'it's bigger on the inside,'" Mac had to get out.

And so Amy surprised them both by going in the direction of, "I'm in my nightie," instead.

"Thank you," Mac laughed, though she felt a tightening in her stomach at that, the girl…was in her nightie. And glanced at the Doctor for a moment feeling almost…concerned about that fact…no, no, she was just curious as to his reaction to her comment, yes.

He just laughed, "Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. AND possibly a swimming pool. So..." he clapped, "All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will…" he turned and smiled at the two girls, "Where do you want to start?"

"You are so sure that I'm coming," Amy remarked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"Cos you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels," he glanced at Mac, "We both do."

"Oh, do you?" Amy teased, leaning over on the console to catch his eye again.

But his attention remained on Mac, "All these years living here most of your life," he began, "And you've still got that…accent," he blinked and turned to Amy, blushing a bit, recovering and covering up what he'd been about to say rather quickly, almost having forgotten she was standing there and that would not do for him to ignore his companion like that, "Yeah, you're coming."

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

"Amy, this really IS a time machine," Mac reminded her, "I think we've proven that with our jumps in years between seeing you. If we're careful, we could get you back five minutes ago."

"Why, what's tomorrow?" the Doctor eyed her.

"Nothing!" she said quickly, before clearing her throat, "Nothing. Just...you know, stuff."

"Alright, then," he shrugged, "Back in time for stuff…Oh!" he cheered seeing a new sonic pop out of the console, "A new one!" he beamed, flashing it at Mac to test it, "Lovely," he pat the console a moment, "Thanks, dear."

Amy watched them closely as they began to set the controls, noting that they both seemed to have set places that they operated, set sides…which reminded her a bit too much like a couple, 'his and her' towels and 'his and her' side of the bed, sort of thing, "Why me?" she had to ask.

"Why not?" the Doctor countered.

"No, seriously," she actually sounded serious for once, "You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me?"

"I don't know. Fun? Do we have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason."

"Do we look like people?"

"Yes."

"We've been on our own for a while," Mac answered, frowning as she looked between them, "The Doctor gets a bit mad without a human to impress and…it gets a little lonely just the two of us at times."

"You're lonely?" Amy frowned, almost seeming…disappointed that was the reason, "That's it? Just that?"

"Just that," the Doctor nodded, not seeming to notice her sadness over the answer, "Promise."

Mac made to move around the console to another half of her section when she paused, spotting something that looked very much like the crack on Amy's wall…on the monitor and quickly turned it off.

"Ok," Amy took a breath, smiling at them.

"Good," Mac smiled in return and moved over to her instead, "Will you be ok though?" she asked, concerned, "Travel in the TARDIS, the TARDIS itself, it can get overwhelming and dangerous at times and…"

"I'm fine," Amy cut in, nodding eagerly, "It's just...there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought...well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman and woman with a box."

"Completely sane," Mac promised her, "At least _I_ am."

The Doctor chuckled at that, "Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand. It's important and, one day, your life may depend on it…I am definitely a madman with a box," he laughed, getting her to chuckle as well, "Goodbye, Leadworth!" he turned to the controls, "Hello, everything!"

Mac smiled as she pulled a lever, sending them off into the Vortex and onto their first adventure, all three of them gripping the console as the box shook.

A/N: I'm really excited for the 'calmer' adventures where there's actually less running around and more than 20 minutes to save the world, just so we can get some more wooing going on ;) I can say the Doctor will be 'endeavoring' quite a bit to win back Mac's affections ;) I hope you liked the little hints of it here, we'll be getting more in the calmer moments as I don't really think, as the danger is looming, his first thoughts would be to woo her as they face down certain death, though there may be a bit high-tension moments broken by wooing and fluff ;)

I can't wait for Rory though, he and Mac get on just swimmingly ;) And I can say we'll find out eventually why Mac was 'Kenny' to Amy and a little bit more about Mac not being angry with the Doctor anymore ;)

Lol, I just realized I forgot to add 8th Mac's theme to the end of Finding Forgiveness :) It's 'Journey Home' by Brand X Music ;)

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of Finding Forgiveness)...

Yup, Mac will have quite a bit of guilt about the war, we'll see much more of it to come in this series at times :) I think in this chapter she was a bit too preoccupied to think much on what she'd learned, but now that they're out of danger we'll see it much more }:) I think 11 was definitely the one that put the war behind him more than the others. Endeavors means 'activities, actions, attempts, happenings, accomplishments' it'll basically just be his attempts at wooing Mac ;) So yup, this will be set to Romance ;)

I think 9 is underused in a lot of things because he was only there 1 series :( We have about 4 for 10, 3 for 11 plus the 50th, there's just a natural weight against 9, out of the 8 (counting the 10-specials) series of New Who, 9 is only in 1 :( But I do have him in the Academic Series AU right from just after Rose starts :) And I'll be doing an AU for Evy and Mac where 9 finds them as well, but that might be as far as it can go for cameos unless he shows up in the show again ;) But he'll get his just due in the AUs. I'm more on a quest to try and start each TL I come up with in a different series, so 9 really could only come about in 1 main series ;) My next TL after Mac will appear in Series 7, and another in series 5 for this year. Then next year I have 2 more coming for series 6 and the 10-specials :) Once I accomplish that, 9 might find himself with another TL you never know ;)


	2. Meanwhile in the TARDIS

Meanwhile in the TARDIS

The Doctor looked at Amy for a moment as the shaking of the TARDIS calmed. They'd flown through the Vortex and into a calm patch of space, just drifting till they were sure that Amy had acclimatized well enough to handle whatever strange things might becoming next. The box itself could be quite overwhelming and if Amy couldn't handle the console room, she'd have a fair bit of trouble with what was outside those doors.

He nodded to himself as he saw her still preoccupied with the room and subtly made his way around the console and to Mac's side. He paused, spotting her on the monitor, seemingly putting something into the TARDIS datacore, a log, it appeared, of the cracks. She was making a record of it, the one on Amy's wall, how big it was, if it was closed or not, and their results of closing it. What startled him was that she'd also included that there was a second crack, in the TARDIS itself, on the monitor too. But it appeared simply turning it off and back on had removed the crack. She had a note that it may possibly be just a remnant pattern of energy that the TARDIS had picked up of the crack and not a true crack, but still, to be sure, she had put it in as a record.

"Kenzie…" he began.

"Why do you call me that?" she asked him, cutting him off slightly. It hadn't been irritating her, no, but…it was rather different from what he'd used to call her that she just wanted to ask. She was sure it was probably just his regeneration, new him, new name or something, but…only Donna had really called her Kenzie, well, her and K9 so she was curious.

He blinked, "I…just…felt like it?" he offered, really not sure why he'd suddenly taken to calling her that, "I feel…like it's a new start, for us," he looked at her, "Mackenzie was so…formal, your full name, and that's not you anymore. You don't go right to Dr. Jones when you're cross so I didn't want to go for Mackenzie. I…I like calling you Kenzie, no one else but Donna really did and…" he started to stutter a bit, "But if you…if you don't like it, I can call you Mac too or…"

"Kenny?" she joked, glancing at Amy again, before she focused back on the Doctor, "No, it's alright Doctor, Kenzie's fine."

"Really?" he eyed her, wanting to be sure.

"Yes," she laughed a bit, "I like it. You're right, it's a new me, should have you call me a new name too."

"Brilliant," he breathed.

She nodded and looked at him expectantly, "You…wanted to say something?" she reminded him.

"Oh, yes, yes," he nodded, "I um…you said before that you…you weren't angry with me anymore?"

She fell silent for a moment, "I'm not," she told him, "I understand why you didn't tell me. My last self…" she shook her head, "She wouldn't have believed you that THAT was the reason why you time locked the planet. I'm sorry for that, I'm sorry you had to wait till me for that to come out. I wish I'd known though," she murmured, looking down, starting to fiddle with a knob, "I treated you so terribly Theta…"

"Hey," he smiled at her, reaching out to take her hand, just…holding it a moment, "There are…so many things I wish I'd done differently Naery, SO many," he reached out to put his hand to her cheek, "And that's all in the past now," he lowered his hand, "We…we both know the truth, we both know…everything and now we…we have a chance for a new adventure with no negative feelings or anger between us…right?" he gave her a cautious look as though he weren't sure he entirely believed her.

"Right," she nodded, "I spent so long being cross with you and I was so wrong about it all. All you've ever done has been to look out for me and for the rest of the universe."

"And I always will," he promised.

"So I'm not angry," she repeated, "Our planet…or the entire universe," she murmured, "You weren't protecting everyone from the Daleks but from our people and with all the chaos…there really was only one way to stop it," she took a breath and looked at him, "I can't be cross with you for time locking the planet to stop the Daleks and them surviving when that wasn't the point of what you did at all."

He smiled lightly at her again, "I'm glad."

"I'm just sorry that I treated you so terribly…"

"I understand," he cut in gently, "Now, no more thoughts on that eh? New beginning, for the both of us now. Ok?"

She let out a soft laugh, "Ok."

"Good, because I don't want to see you fretting about this again," he pointed a mock-warning finger at her, "Your frowns break my hearts Naey."

"Well then I shall endeavor to smile more."

"And I'll be endeavoring to make you smile," he winked at her.

"Oh will you?" she laughed.

"Yeah," he chuckled as well, squeezing her hand, only just realizing that, at some point in their talks, her hand had come away from the console and he was just holding her hand between them, "You know how much I like a challenge."

"Are you calling me difficult?" she teased.

"Don't know," he shrugged, "Don't know what I'm calling anyone. Don't know what I'm calling myself…"

"Doctor," she answered, though he hadn't asked a question, "Just…stay with Doctor."

"Ok," he winked.

"Why's it a phone box?" Amy suddenly called, pulling their attention over to her, making them turn, the move causing them to drop their hands.

"Sorry what?" the Doctor blinked, a hint of a blush creeping up his neck as he realized he'd actually forgotten the ginger girl was there for a moment or two (or the entire time he'd been speaking to Mac).

"On the outside it said police box," Amy hopped over to them, walking around the console and eyeing all the different devices and controls on it, "Why have you labeled a time machine police box, why not time machine? Is that too obvious? And what is a police box? Do police men come in in boxes? How many do you get? _Are_ you police?"

"Doctor sort of implies NOT police," Mac offered with an amused smile.

"No, you're right," Amy nodded, eyeing the Doctor intently, "Look at his hair…actually," she blinked at the Doctor, "Just LOOK at your hair! Do you ever look at your hair and think 'whoa…it just won't stop? And my chin! Look I'm wearing a bowtie, shoot me now?' Am I gabbling?"

"A bit, yeah," the Doctor laughed.

"Not quite as bad as you've done in the past though Doctor," Mac remarked, walking around the console to help make sure the box was stable.

"Yes well…" he paused, blinking, "Oi! What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's a bit floppy," Amy pointed at it.

He pouted, "My hair is not floppy…is it?" he spun to Mac.

"A little yeah," she nodded.

"Well," he huffed, "We can't all have perfect ginger hair."

Amy started grinning at that, not noticing that the Doctor was looking pointedly at Mac when he'd said that, almost forgetting that there was another ginger woman in there besides her, "The question stands," Amy looked pointedly at the Doctor, smirking.

"The first question?" he frowned, trying to keep track of them all.

"Yes."

He nodded…and then glanced at Mac, his head still a bit fuzzy from the repeated whacks to it.

"Why's it a phone box?" Mac reminded him.

"Right, yes," he looked at Amy, "Well it's not really a police box, which by the way is a special kind of telephone box that police men used to use…"

"Right," Amy nodded, following along, "Telephone box. There's a light on the top, do you need to change the bulb?"

"Amy, stop," he put his hands on her shoulders, "Breath…"

Mac laughed as she took a deep breath in, "But to answer your question, yes, the bulb DOES need changing at times."

Amy glanced at her and, in one breath as she exhaled, continued with, "Why doesn't the air get out? It is made of wood! Oh," she inhaled sharply, "You've got a wooden time machine. Do you feel stupid?" she looked back at the Doctor for that one, "Sorry, back on the bowtie…"

"It's your own fault Amy," Mac pointed out, making her way past the girl to squeeze her shoulders, "If you hadn't caught his tie in a door, who knows what he would have picked to wear."

"It's camouflage," the Doctor got them back on the topic of the TARDIS instead of his tie, tweaking it to straighten it, "It's disguised as a police telephone box from 1963. Every time the TARDIS materializes in a new location, within the first nanosecond of landing, it analyzes its surroundings, calculates a 12-dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius, and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment…"

Mac smiled, seeing Amy looking very, VERY impressed that the old box could do that, "And then, it just happens to turn into a police telephone box from the early 60s."

"Oh," Amy frowned, "Why?"

The Doctor scratched the side of his face, "It's probably a bit of a fault actually. I've been meaning to check…"

"Liar," Mac muttered, crossing her arms as she leaned against the console, watching them.

"Hold on, so it's a police box _every_ time?" Amy inquired, wanting to make sure she'd gotten that right.

"Yeah, I suppose," the Doctor shrugged, "Now you mention…"

"How long's it been doing that?"

"Oh…not long…"

"Lies, lies, lies," Mac teased, "Try centuries ago in 1963, Amy."

Amy had to laugh at that, "Ok, ok, but what about the windows? There are windows on the outside but where do they go? Is it a cry for help?"

"What?" the Doctor blinked, both he and Mac looking a bit confused.

"The bowtie!"

"You are REALLY fixated on the bowtie," Mac commented.

"Aren't you?" Amy scoffed.

Mac shrugged, "I've seen reports of him wearing a rainbow-colored jacket," she remarked dryly, "A bowtie is relatively normal, actually…" she paused to think of the pictures she had seen in his UNIT file, "He's worn bowties before…"

"Yes, because bowties are cool," he grinned and walked past Mac, "As is the headband," he reached out and snapped hers up.

"Doctor!" she huffed lightly, shaking her head as she readjusted her headband.

He just grinned widely, he'd gotten to touch her hair just briefly…it was softer than he thought it would be. He felt like he should be jealous that she as ginger, that she got to be ginger whereas he had wanted to be ginger so badly and STILL hadn't managed it but…he just couldn't. The ginger hair suited her and she looked lovely as a ginger, he'd rather stare at her than pout at her for her hair luck.

"And you're aliens," Amy glanced between them.

"Yeah!" the Doctor cheered, "Well, in your terms yeah, in OUR terms," he gestured between him and Mac, "YOU'RE an alien," he poked her in the forehead, making her go cross-eyed, "In quite a few people's terms probably."

"Practically every other alien species thinks those not of their planet are aliens," Mac shrugged, "You'll get used to it."

"What kind of aliens are you?" Amy asked.

"Well, you know," the Doctor mused, "Nice ones. Definitely two of the nice ones. Especially Kenzie, nice on more levels than I can name."

"You're rather nice yourself Doctor," she chuckled, shaking her head as she got back to looking at the controls.

"So you're like uh, space…squids?" Amy wondered, poking him when he'd looked over at Mac, positively beaming at her praise of him, making him look back at her, not intentionally, just more a luck of the timing, "Or something? Are you like tiny little slugs in human suits? Is that why you walk like that?"

"Slouched over?" Mac guessed.

"Oi!" he pouted again, "I do not slouch."

"Yes you do," Mac told him matter-of-factly, "And you really shouldn't, it's bad for your posture and you don't want to ruin that in a new body. Stand up straight Doctor."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes mum," he huffed, standing a bit straighter.

"Not your mother!" Mac countered in a sing-song.

"Are you like Prisoner Zero?" Amy eyed them suspiciously, "Are you like a space-eel but in a hologram or something?"

"Amy," the Doctor turned to her, rolling his eyes, getting a bit tired of that, he'd been about to give Mac a compliment and the moment had been ruined, not that he blamed Amy, but there was only so many times he could say that they really were humanoid (by her standards, though she was more Time Lordian by their own) before it started to get a bit old. That was new, impatience, well no, not actually that new, he'd had quite a few bodies that got irritated with the companions far more quickly than this one, "This is me," he grabbed her hands and put them on his cheeks, "This is what I really look like. And that is what Kenzie looks like."

"Well that's fine then!" Amy half-snapped back, slapping his cheeks with both hands.

"Ow!" he winced, "Good."

"At least it wasn't her mother this time, eh Doctor?" Mac mused with a small smirk on her face, the files were very consistent with that theme of mothers slapping him.

"I don't like slapping," he muttered, moving over beside her to flick a button, "I like YOUR slapping but I don't like slapping and…"

"MY slapping?" Mac shook her head, "I'm fairly certain there's only one sort of slapping…"

"No," he countered, turning to lean against the console, "You slap my shoulder, you do it a lot when you're teasing me or worried about me."

She blinked, "Do I?" she hadn't known that.

"I like it," he shrugged, "I like knowing you're worried about me. Makes me feel like you care."

Mac looked at him softly for that, "I DO care," she told him, not seeing that his look before hadn't been a sort of sad look, like he was depressed he thought she didn't care, but more a calculating and testing look, like he wanted to see what she'd say, "Even when I was angry with you…I DID still care."

He smiled at that, "I'm glad, I always care about you too."

"I know," she nodded softly at that.

"Ok…" Amy breathed, looking up at the ceiling again, taking a deep breath and then smiling at them, oblivious to the small conversation they'd been having as her thoughts settled, "Ok, I think I'm done there…" she laughed.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor clapped and turned, pulling a lever on his way back to his side of the console, "We've barely started," he looked at Mac as she pulled another lever, "Cos…" he winked at Mac and ran to the doors, Amy rushing after him as Mac remained by the console, "Do you know what we keep in here?" he stopped at the doors.

"What?"

"Absolutely everything," he grinned, pulling them open and stepping to the side so she could see the stars beyond them, the TARDIS drifting in the middle of space, "Anything fit your fancy?"

Amy shook her head and spun around, staring at him, "We're in space…"

"Really?" Mac laughed kindly, amused, "What was your first clue?"

"But it can't be," Amy looked at her.

"I can promise you Amy, that most certainly IS."

"But it's like…it's like…it's like …" she glanced out the doors, and back to the Doctor, "Special effects?"

The Doctor smirked a bit at that, thinking for a moment on meeting Shakespeare, how he'd remarked to Martha after they stopped the Carrionites that 'her effect was special enough' and had to wonder how Mac would react if he tried that line on her…hmm…no, best not. If he was going to compliment her, he wanted it to be with his own words.

"It is isn't it?" Amy continued, "It's not real."

He eyed her a moment before glancing back at Mac, "What do you think? Should I?"

Mac blinked, guessing what he was about to do, and shrugged, "Be careful though," she told him, turning to extend the air shell of the TARDIS just to be safe.

He beamed and turned back to Amy, "Get out."

"What?" Amy frowned.

"No, seriously," he quickly pushed her out the doors, "Get out!" before he rushed forward and grabbed her ankle, letting her float off just a bit, space all around her.

A/N: SO sorry this is late :( We had a lot of rain yesterday and lost power at my house and, of course, my phone's battery was at like 5% and died on me so I couldn't even put a note on my tumblr about it :( We didn't get it back till about a half hour ago, so I gave this as quick an edit/read through as I could to get it up. Sorry!

As for the chapter, I wasn't planning on doing this mini-sode originally, but with how the first chapter went, I felt like I really wanted a separate chapter to have the little chat between the Doctor and Mac that's in this one :) I won't be doing the second Meanwhile, before Vampires though ;)

Some notes on reviews...

The Doctor didn't leave the sonic behind actually ;) I had written that he 'picked up his dead sonic and tried to see if he could possibly salvage it,' and never said anything about him dropping it again, so he still had it on him, it wasn't just left behind so Mac didn't have to comment on it, believe me if he had left it she'd have said something and picked it up :) It's the first chapter with a new Doctor still going through regeneration and Mac JUST learned the truth about the Time War hours ago (which is a lot to process)...chemistry won't instantly happen, that wouldn't be believable. She doesn't know who the new Doctor is, neither does he, we see the chemistry slowly build as the story goes ;) She has patience with those she sees as intelligent (and children, she adores them), humans are still growing on her. She has less patience in high-tension situations (like 20 minutes to save the world) or when there's danger, and in that context with 20 minutes you can't afford to be patient lol :) And thanks! I'm SO glad you think Mac's relationship with the Doctor is totally different than Angel's! ^-^ That's such a_ good_ thing it's not the Doctor/Angel match as this IS a different TL with a different dynamic and history and relationship to the Doctor than Angel. I really try to keep the TLs separate from each other and unique so comparing Mac to Angel and seeing differences and a 'far cry' from the relationship she had with the Doctor means I'm doing my job right ;) To have the same relationship as Angel had would essentially mean turning Mac into the same personality as Angel and that isn't something I want. The disagreeing is sort of the point with this new Doctor/Mac, they're more of the 'bicker couple' except unlike how the old Mac was biting and harsh in her bickering, this one is more light-hearted. She's the one who has no issue disagreeing with the Doctor and letting him know it ;) It's intentional :) But this is a new Mac that's still settling and a New Doctor so it's hard to really do much in the first chapter with only like 5 minutes of calm before the running ;)

Yup, Amy will still hit on the Doctor, but as for what Mac will say...we'll have to wait and see ;)

I can say the Doctor does actually have a sort of semi-almost-claim to Mac, they both said they loved the other, just at different times. Unofficially they're Chosens, officially...there's a very BIG possibility that they WILL be Chosens (given how everyone calls Mac that, especially Caan), in the Doctor's mind they are Chosens, he just has to prove it to Mac ;) And thanks, I'm sure the story isn't the best, there are probably hundreds of wooing stories out there that are better, but thank you :) And that's cool if Mac is your favorite, I actually like that a lot of people have different favorite TLs :) And thanks so much! I honestly wasn't expecting anything to come from writing my stories except a place to get my ideas out, but I'm really glad they were able to inspire people and that they're enjoying them, so thank you :') Lol, I don't think it's odd, nope, I thought it was a very clever name :) No worries about the length, I love every length review :)

I probably won't do a sneak peek for this story, just because by the time we hit a certain number of reviews...the story would probably be about halfway over so we wouldn't get many of them :( Amy and Mac will probably happen around Venice with a carry over into Amy's Choice, let's just say Mac will do quite a few things that will make Amy very annoyed ;) Mac won't be able to be a pilot till Gallifrey is back, or till the TARDIS is at the planet again ;) I'm not sure if the TLs will regenerate into something strange, I feel like if it's too out there it borderlines becoming a Mary Sue even if the Doctor himself ended up with cat eyes or something and the TL had cat ears, some readers would still cry Mary Sue if it's too weird. It would depend on the show and what the Doctor becomes :)

We'll have to wait and see what Mac's reaction to the Amy-kiss will be ;) As for River...River's reaction to Amy's thoughts made me laugh ;)

I wasn't depressed when I wrote Angel or channeling angst nope :) I think it was more that the hero's journey requires hardship and I really wanted Angel to become the hero I always saw her as :) I can say Mac's story won't be as dark as Angel's, there might be a dark episode or two, a dark moment, but overall much lighter than Angel's ;) But yup, no Time Tots here :( I'm definitely going to try and make up for it with the children-episodes though and a few twists :)

Mac will more be of the 'actions speak louder than words' mentality when it comes to Amy and her rudeness at one point. We'll see her almost fight fire with fire ;)

There won't be lots of angst in Mac's story nope :)

I'm sorry you've been feeling bad lately :( I completely understand that feeling, my mother had Breast Cancer and that entire time was just terrible and terrifying. I wish you and your mother the absolute best and for a swift recovery :) And if you ever need it -virtual hug!- I've got plenty more where that comes from ;)

The Evy AU, and practically all the AUs, probably won't be up for a very long time :( I originally planned for them to be the 'filler' stories that would happen between the long waits in the series for DW and to work on them once I'd caught up with all my future TLs. I've got 2 more planned for 2015, so we may not see any AUs till 2016 :( I was going to try and get Rewritten going again, but I've got way too much writing going on this year (nearly doing 2 different stories every day for the year makes me think I was a little insane lol) to get to that :( But we might see an OC for 9, but probably not till after the AUs that'll feature 9 get out :)

Oh Mac will be very angry at Demons Run yup ;)


	3. The Beast Below

The Beast Below

"Doctor pull her back in here before she gets a cold!" Mac laughed, leaning against the console as she looked at the Doctor, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, holding Amy by the ankle as she drifted out into space.

"Come on, Pond," the Doctor nodded, tugging her back inside and helping to set her on the ground, "NOW do you believe us?"

Amy nodded, grinning widely, "Ok, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Whoo! What are we breathing?"

"I extended the air shell," Mac called, pointing to a lever, two buttons, and a knob beside her before she made her way over to them, "The TARDIS has a natural shield around her. You'll be able to breathe easily in just about every room here as well."

"Not true!" the Doctor spun around, rushing up to meet her just before she could step off the steps, "It is actually quite difficult to breathe in this very room."

Mac frowned, "Why?" she asked, concerned, "Is it your lungs?" she put her hand to his chest, "Did the regeneration energy give you weak lungs? Do you have that stethoscope? I can try to listen for your breathing and…"

The Doctor cut her off by placing his hand on top of hers, smiling at her softly as his thumb stroked the back of her hand, "It's difficult because YOU're in this room," he told her quietly, "You steal every bit of breath in my body when I see you."

Mac blinked, "I'm running a quick scan on you," she warned, turning to head back up to the console, "Knew I was forgetting something, head trauma."

The Doctor shook his head at that, let her think his 'sudden' interest in her was head trauma from all the whacks he'd taken. He'd soon prove her wrong. It wasn't trauma or all that sudden. Well, yes, he probably did have some sort of head injury given that cricket bat, but really, that had nothing to do with her. He'd loved her always, since Gallifrey and after, he'd never stopped, as he'd told he repeatedly, and he'd prove it too. This body…it was just…far more open, especially with her. He felt like he could actually tease her and flirt with her and compliment her without fear of her lashing out at him or shouting at him. He knew it was also the fact that it was a new her that helped, but still…he had an idea that he was going to have rather a brilliant time winning her back.

Geronimo then.

"What's that?" Amy called, pulling the Doctor's attention back to her.

He spun on his heel and made his way back to the edge of the doors, looking over to see Amy crouched down and staring at something below them, "Now, that's interesting," he murmured, seeing what she had, a sort of flying city inside a glass dome, like a snowglobe but without the snow. He smiled and stood up, spinning around and heading to the console to start piloting the box down though still speaking to Amy, "29th Century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations..."

"Doctor?" Amy called.

"…migrating to the stars."

"Doctor?"

"Isn't that amazing?"

Amy huffed, "Mackenzie!?"

Mac looked over and shook her head, seeing Amy had gotten sucked out of the doors once more and was barely clinging to the top of the TARDIS doorway, "You can just call me Mac, Amy," she told the girl, heading over to take her hands and pull her back into the box.

"Oi you two!" the Doctor waved them over, "Come on. I've found us a spaceship," he gave them an excited grin as they made their way over to him and looked at the monitor to see an image of the ship.

"I was in the middle of a scan," Mac reminded him.

"And it came out just perfect," the Doctor told her, sticking his tongue out as she laughed and shook her head. He pulled a lever and they set down.

"So what ship have we got this time?" Mac moved beside him, looking at a small read out beside the image, "The Starship UK, the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland."

"Ooh that's not just a ship," the Doctor sighed happily, absently putting his arm around Mac's shoulders, "That's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping," he sighed, seeing the images shifting to the different interiors of the ship, including their market.

Mac's smile softened, "Searching the stars for a new home."

The Doctor's own smile faded though as he glanced at her, his expression turning more thoughtful as he gazed at her. He remembered very keenly the fact that Mac had often called the Earth her home instead of the TARDIS, but…it was always said in a sort of odd tone, like she said it but she didn't really MEAN it. He knew that she understood, what he'd done in the war, why he'd time locked the planet. She understood now just what was at stake and what would have been lost if he hadn't stopped their people. He knew she wasn't angry with him anymore but…he really did have to ask how she felt about him. He could guess, but…he was sure SHE didn't even know. And that was a VERY good thing for him, because if she didn't know, then she hadn't formed an opinion of him and his new self too, and…it would be easier to try and get her back. He'd wanted them to be what they once had been, but she hadn't been ready in her last body, she'd still been angry and hurt by him.

Now though…now she really did understand what had happened and that anger was gone. He hoped that, with some effort, he would be able to put a much more positive emotion in its place. Mac had always had a tender heart, to see her angry and to see her hold onto that anger for so long had been rather shocking. But still, she had let go of that feeling now. He just…he could still hear a wistful tone in her voice as she spoke of the ship.

And it made him wonder…did she consider the TARDIS a home? They hadn't exactly spoken of it, if she'd keep travelling with him. There were times she said 'us' but equally she'd never specifically said that she was going to keep travelling with him in the TARDIS. She DID have a home on Earth, a job, a life, all he had was a box. What if she wanted to go back to UNIT? She'd introduced herself to Amelia as an agent of UNIT…what if, in the back of her mind, she still considered herself a UNIT operative and wanted to go back?

"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked, pulling his attention back to her.

"Course we can," he nodded, "But first, there's a thing."

"A thing?"

"Oh this'll be interesting," Mac mused, moving to lean back against the railing to watch him tell what the 'thing' was. She was willing to bet it was a thing he himself wouldn't be listening to or following.

"An important thing," the Doctor stated, "In fact, thing one…"

"Don't wander off?" Mac guessed.

"No, that's the MOST important thing. This is just thing ONE."

"The Doctor lies?" she started to smile.

"That's RULE one," he laughed, "No, no, this is the thing about observation."

"Oh, right," Mac nodded slowly, more amused to hear THIS one than anything, "Well then, by all means, continue," she gestured at Amy.

"We are observers only," he stated, ignoring the snort that Mac gave for that, "That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Ooh!" he said quickly, holding up a finger to Mac as she opened her mouth to remark on just HOW much of a lie that was, "That's interesting."

Mac shifted a little, standing behind Amy to see that the screen had changed to a little girl in a red outfit sitting on a bench and crying, all alone.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy began…but neither Mac nor the Doctor heard the rest of it as the Doctor slowly stepped back, Amy fixated on the screen, and grabbed Mac's hand to pull her out of the TARDIS, the two of them heading off to find the crying girl.

It was surprisingly easy to find her though…she was sitting on a bench just across from the TARDIS. And, of course, in what seemed to be the new Doctor's fashion, instead of subtly and slowly approaching her to see if she was ok…he just sort of rushed over and popped up behind her, startling her into running off.

"Oh Doctor," Mac shook her head, "You're the eldest too and you forgot how jittery children can be when they're upset?"

He just shrugged and glanced at the TARDIS, waving at it, knowing Amy was likely still watching. Mac stepped past him and looked around, spotting the little girl in the distance. She turned to the Doctor to ask him something…when she blinked, seeing that he wasn't beside her any longer but was instead running towards the little girl again, trying to more casually speak to her.

She sighed and crossed her arms, watching amusedly as he attempted it another time by the time Amy stepped out of the TARDIS and beside her, "I'm in the future," the ginger girl whispered, staring around at the rather crude looking stalls and the stars through the glass ceiling, "Like hundreds...of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries."

"Nice," Mac laughed, starting to walk in the direction she'd last seen the Doctor rushing after the girl…only for him to pop up from the opposite side.

"You're a cheery one," the Doctor remarked, moving beside Mac and absently draping his arm over her shoulder as they walked, "Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Amy shook her head, whatever it was, she couldn't see it.

"Use your eyes, notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

Mac looked around, squinting as she spotted quite a few things actually.

"Is it...the bicycles?" Amy guessed, pointing at one as it passed them, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

"Bit unusual camouflage for a time machine to be an old wooden phone box," Mac pointed out.

"Said the girl in the nightie," the Doctor joked, letting go of Mac to poke Amy.

"Oh, my God!" Amy gaped, horrified, "I'm in my nightie!"

"Now, come on, look around you. Actually_ look_."

"I don't know Doctor," Amy sighed.

"Right then, Kenzie?" he looked at her, expectantly, "What about you? You always were great at spotting the details."

Mac smiled at that, "Everything's too strict," she summarized, "Look, it's all rigid and moving and monitored," she pointed up at one of the many, many, MANY cameras they could see all around them, "There's no need for so much and the announcements?" she nodded at one of the speakers, "They keep talking about how it's a 'crime-free zone' and nothing is ever that crime free unless it's forced. They're under martial law."

"Exactly!" the Doctor cheered, "Brilliant!" he put his arm around her again to give her a small squeeze, "It's a police state. Excuse me," he moved over to a table and grabbed a glass off it, looking at the water inside it before he set it on the ground. He waited a moment, watching the still waters, waters that made Mac frown to see, before he stood and beamed, hurrying back over to her and offering her the water, "Thought you might be thirsty?" he shrugged with a happy little smile.

"Thanks," she nodded, but had to step back and return the glass to the customers that were grumbling about their food being stolen, "Sorry," she apologized to the patrons, "He's um…" she shook her head, not really knowing quite how to describe the Doctor, "Sorry," she repeated, moving back to the Doctor.

"Not thirsty then?" he pouted.

"No, but thank you for the gesture," she patted his cheek, "Very sweet."

He sighed, at least it was a start, sweet was good, he could work with sweet.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked him.

"Just…taking a leaf out of Kenzie's book," he shrugged.

Mac looked at Amy, "He was testing to see if there were any engine vibrations on deck."

"Why would that matter?" Amy frowned.

"Don't know. Could be something. Could be nothing," the Doctor shrugged, "Now, police state, do you see it yet?"

Mac was quiet at that, it wasn't…an outright lie to Amy, what he'd said. She didn't like it when he lied to the companions. She really would rather have them know everything that was going on, THAT much hadn't changed, and she knew she was likely overstepping her bounds as she wasn't Amy's pilot but just…a Time Lady, to tell her things the Doctor deemed unnecessary for her to know. But she just couldn't help it.

She knew how much it tugged at his hearts and pained him whenever a Companion was hurt…if she could help keep them safe, give them a knowledge they could use to protect themselves, then she'd give it. Knowledge was the greatest weapon and it could never be said that knowing too much was a bad thing. Right now though, there wasn't much more to say than what they had. The lack of engine vibrations as seen in how still the water was, it could be something or nothing. The ship, despite what they both likely thought of it, could potentially be stable and well structured enough that the engine wasn't felt on deck, much like Earth cruise ships could be built so that those on board didn't notice the swaying of the ship on water. But, in the same breath, it could mean something far more concerning…that there was no engine at all.

But that was just ridiculous.

The ship wouldn't be able to move if not for an engine.

"Where?" Amy squinted, trying to see what they saw.

"There," the Doctor pointed at the little girl, sitting on a bench before a lift, crying. The Doctor stepped forward, to a bench just across from her, and sat down, Mac and Amy moving to sit on either side of him as they watched person after person walk past her, ignoring her.

"One little girl crying?" Amy shook her head, "So?"

"She's not crying out loud Amy," Mac said softly, "When something is wrong and you want comfort, you cry loudly for attention, so someone knows something's hurting you. To cry like that…" she shook her head, "It's something worse and the more she thinks on it, the more she can't stop."

"Any parent knows that," the Doctor agreed.

Amy blinked and looked at them, "Are you parents?"

The Doctor glanced at Mac, feeling her stiffen beside him, and reached out to take her hand between them, squeezing it tightly, that question, while it might seem ordinary to almost anyone, was very personal when it came to Mac, "Not anymore," he offered, being…more honest than he was really comfortable with but…knowing how personal that question as to Mac he couldn't help but give an equally personal answer, even if it was just a poor way of comforting her.

"What happened?" Amy asked instantly…before realizing just what the answer had been and knowing that was a line she should NOT cross, "Sorry."

The Doctor shifted a bit and Mac glanced at him this time, knowing that THAT question was more personal for him, she squeezed his hand back and changed the topic back to the little girl, "Look at all those people Amy, all those parents," she nodded at one or two walking past, holding the hands of their children, "Just walking right by her. They SHOULD be stopping to see if she's ok, but they aren't. They're walking faster instead."

"They already know what's wrong," the Doctor mused, "And it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state. Like Kenzie said martial law."

A bell rang and the little girl got up, rushing away as the lift opened, the Time Lords frowning when they saw a sort of clown-like figure in a booth turning to watch her.

"Where'd she go?" Amy frowned.

"Deck 207," the Doctor recited, "Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner."

"Please tell me you hacked the system," Mac nearly moaned.

The Doctor just grinned, "Oh…" and pulled out a small ID wallet from his pocket, "This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her."

"Oh it 'fell out' did it?" Mac shook her head, taking it from him, "Or did you steal it off her?" she slapped him on the shoulder with the wallet.

"Took me four goes," he winked at her.

Mac sighed, "Well that's better than I thought it would take, you're not THAT good a thief Doctor."

"I believe the evidence of my prowess is right behind us," he remarked, jerking a thumb back towards the TARDIS.

"You got lucky, it was unlocked," Mac countered.

"I've stolen other things you know, and I'll steal even more. Once a thief always a thief."

"And you'll get caught next time."

"Nah," he waved her off, "The next two treasures I aim to steal, I doubt the owner will see it coming."

"I think an entire solar system would see you coming Doctor."

"Would _you_?" he looked at her intently.

She blinked, not quite sure what he was talking about.

The Doctor smirked, seeming to realize that she didn't seem to grasp he was speaking of her hearts, and took the wallet back, turning to Amy to hand it to her instead, "Ask her about those things, the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."

Amy glanced over at the booths, "But they're just things."

"They're _clean_," the Doctor emphasized, "Everything else here is battered and filthy, look at this place," he gestured around, "But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?'"

"No," Amy turned back to him, "Hang on, what do I do?" she leaned in to whisper, "I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!"

"It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Ha ha," he grinned, "Gotcha!"

"Don't worry Amy," Mac stood up, "I'll go with you."

The Doctor started nodding at that…before he realized what she'd said, "Wait, what!?" he got up quickly, "But…I thought…"

"What?" Mac looked at him.

The Doctor glanced at Amy before he tugged Mac off to the side, Amy rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she waited, glancing back at the things in the booths as the Time Lords had a private word, "You're going with Amy?" he frowned.

She nodded, "Yes? Why, is that a problem?"

"No," he shrugged, "I just…thought…the two of _us_ could do some investigating too."

"I will be, with Amy."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "You know, for someone who seems to think the humans need to 'grow on her' you're awfully fond of sticking to them."

Mac laughed, "It's not that Doctor it's…look, you want Amy to be your new companion yes?" she asked, trying to put into words her thoughts.

"Yes."

"I…don't want this to be like with Donna," she admitted, "It…takes me too long to trust people and I don't want to drag it out and be distant with Amy because of that. The more time I spend around her, the faster I'll get to know her and form an opinion."

He looked at her intently at that, "It's not just that is it?"

She hesitated a moment before sighing, "No."

"What else is there then?"

She took a deep breath, "I worry about them, about the companions. I know it's NOT your fault," she added quickly, "It's NOT your fault that they get in trouble or danger. And I know that you do everything you can to keep them safe and…I want to help," she glanced back at Amy, "She'll always be the little girl from five minutes ago to you, won't she?" she turned back to him, seeing him nod at that, "That's how I see her too, she's just…she's always a child to me, even being 21 now. I don't do well when children are in trouble."

"Neither do I," he agreed, glancing at Amy and back to Mac, "You want to go with her to protect her."

She nodded, "No wandering off and all," she teased.

He took a deep breath but nodded, "Ok," he smiled at her, "And thank you. I…I didn't realize I'd just told her to wander off till you mentioned that."

"Well good," she laughed, "I always pointed out when you were doing something foolish."

He glanced at his watch, "Meet me back here in half an hour?"

"I think you mean, come rescue you in half an hour."

"Oi!" he laughed, "I think I'll be the one rescuing you."

"Sure Doctor," she patted him on the shoulder as they headed back, "Come on Amy."

Amy slowly stood, but glanced at the Doctor, "What are you going to do?"

"What I always do," he winked, "Stay out of trouble," he heard Mac give a small scoff at that and added, "Badly," before he turned and started walking off.

"Is this how it works?" Amy glanced at Mac, "We're not supposed to interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

Mac nodded, "Always. Now, come on," she led Amy off the opposite way, "We've got about a half hour before the Doctor either gets in trouble or gets everyone else in trouble."

~8~

"What about you Mac?" Amy asked as they walked through the streets of the ship.

"What about me what?" Mac murmured, looking at the signs to get to Mandy's home, they'd been walking in silence, but she'd noticed Amy glancing at her from time to time.

"Were you a parent?" she knew it was probably not the best thing to ask but she was curious. Both she and the Doctor seemed to know a lot about children and while she now knew that the Doctor seemed to have had a bad experience with it, that he may have…he may have lost his children, whether to disease or separation or…or something else, but surely the same couldn't have happened to Mac.

"No," Mac took a breath, "I…um, I actually can't have children."

Amy blinked and stopped walking, just…staring at her.

Mac paused and glanced back, "We need find Mandy, Amy."

But Amy just shook her head and stepped over to her, hugging her tightly, not caring that she'd only really known the woman hours at most, not caring that she had no idea if the woman was even a hugger (though she thought she might be), but just…wanting to offer her some sort of comfort. She hadn't really thought much of children herself, except for the fact that she knew a certain someone in her life loved children and wanted to have them one day. But she could see it in Mac, in how she'd reacted to her as a child, how focused she was on helping Mandy…the woman loved children and to not be able to have any…it must be crushing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in Mac's ear.

Mac smiled sadly at that and hugged Amy back, before she pulled away, "Thanks, but it's been a long time, since I found out. Centuries, really."

"Doesn't mean a thing," Amy countered knowingly.

Mac nodded and took a breath, "Come on, Mandy."

"Mandy," Amy repeated, the two of them turning to moved down a few more streets. She bit her lip a moment, not quite sure if...if she was a terrible person for feeling just the tiniest bit...happy...that Mac had said what she had. The Doctor implied he HAD had children before, but Mac couldn't, she'd said she'd never been a parent...which meant that the Doctor and Mac weren't parents together, they weren't together. She pushed the thought aside though, it probably was really terrible to think that, and focused on where they were going, turning around a corner and slowing when they saw a booth with one of the creatures in it, stepping past it to continue on.

"You're following me," a small voice said behind them, the two of them spinning around to see Mandy there, "Saw you watching me at the marketplace."

"You dropped this!" Amy held out the wallet as an excuse.

"Yeah," Mandy scoffed, "When your friend kept bumping into me."

"Very observant," Mac smiled, before she moved towards the girl, leaning over to look at her, "Are you ok?" she asked the girl, "We saw you crying and no one was asking."

Mandy shrugged, "My…my friend Timmy," she spoke quietly, "He disappeared."

"Have you gone to the police?" Amy frowned.

Mandy looked away.

"The police know, don't they?" Mac guessed, "They know about the people who disappear, but they don't do anything."

"No," Mandy agreed, shifting at that.

"Well then," Mac knelt down, gently taking Mandy's hands, "WE will help you find Timmy."

"You will?" Mandy seemed half skeptical and half hopeful.

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "Course we will," she held up a pinky, wondering if that sort of promise-maker would be the same in the future, but Mandy locked her pinky around hers, beaming now, "Good," she stood, "Where was the last place you saw Timmy?"

"By the vator at our school…" Mandy grabbed Mac's hand to try and pull her off, but Amy called out from behind them.

"What's that?" Amy inquired, making them turn to see her inspecting a sort of tent that was set up, all sorts of danger signs there.

"There's a hole," Mandy shrugged, "We have to go back."

"A what? A hole?"

"They put up tents till they can fix it," Mandy answered.

Mac, though, frowned, stepping closer, seeing that the shop the hole was right in front of was called 'Magpie Electricals' and looked around. That…was the same shop, or at least too much of a similar name, as the one that had stolen faces on earth. She'd read a report by a D.I. Bishop about it in the Torchwood files that UNIT had confiscated after the Ghost Shift incident, before Jack took over, of course the Doctor's name popped up. This didn't sit right with her. She was sure that it was either a different shop or just a coincidence but…now she was curious as to what was in the tent for it to be set up right before that shop.

"Hold on a mo, Mandy," Mac murmured, starting to head for the tent.

"Are you stupid?" Mandy called, "There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way," but then Amy followed her, "There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are you doing?"

"Setting the worst example for an impressionable child," Mac remarked as she stepped up to the 'keep out' sign attached to the tent, "Amy," she glanced back, "Stay with Mandy yeah?"

Amy pouted at that, but nodded, knowing the woman was just worry about the girl, "What's through there?" she called as Mac stepped closer, peeking in, "What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?"

"Nobody knows," Mandy sighed.

"Let me guess, you're not supposed to talk about it?" Mac looked back at her.

"Talk about what?" Amy glanced between her.

"Below," Mandy answered.

"Not talking about something…" Mac shook her head, "That just makes more problems."

She knew that better than anyone, if she'd just talked to the Doctor, let him talk to her…so much would have been different. She would have been less angry and…who knows, maybe they could have at least been friends again on Gallifrey if they couldn't be Chosens. She leaned over to look at a lock on the tent, pulling a pin from her pocket and picking the lock.

Mandy looked between them as they fell into a silence, "You sound Scottish," she remarked to Amy.

"I _am_ Scottish," Amy nodded, "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere."

"Separate ship," Mac told her.

"Oh," Amy nodded, "Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So...how did you get here?" Mandy asked them.

"Oh, just passing through, you know, with a guy."

"Your boyfriend?"

Mac stiffened at that, pausing in her work though she wasn't sure why she wanted to know what Amy would say. Not quite sure why she was almost…dreading the answer? Was that even the right feeling?

But Amy surprised her but merely saying, "Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just...I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind."

"You're getting married?" Mac turned to look at Amy, breathing a sigh of relief for some reason, before she smiled, "Congratulations Amy, you and Rory will be very happy."

Amy blinked, "How did you know it was Rory?" she frowned, startled.

"I didn't," she smirked playfully, "I only knew two names and took a shot on the cuter one."

Amy nodded at that, realizing she'd been caught, before Mac's words registered, "You think RORY is the cuter one than Jeff?"

Mac laughed, "Apparently you do too or you wouldn't be marrying him."

"When are you getting married?" Mandy looked up at Amy.

"Well, it's kind of weird…a long time ago, tomorrow morning. I wonder what I did."

"Got it," Mac smiled as the lock came off, "Amy?"

"I know," she rolled her eyes, "Keep an eye on the kid."

Mac winked and stepped through, if someone was going to be stepping into a dark tent when they didn't know what was inside it, it would be her. She almost reached for her glow sticks when she noticed that there were red emergency lights flashing, which made just enough light for HER to see well enough. She frowned, seeing something reaching out through the hole in the ground, moving, alive…like a tentacle or something.

It wasn't dangerous though, just swaying gently.

She stepped closer and reached out, gently putting her hand on it and looked down at the hole, hearing a faint noise, a noise that she knew humans wouldn't be able to hear coming up through the cracks around the tentacle, "I'm sorry," she breathed, looking up at the tentacle again.

"MAC!" Amy suddenly screamed from behind her and Mac spun around, running back out of the tent and holding her hands up when she saw that Amy was in the grip of a hooded man, Mandy nowhere to be seen (she hoped that meant Amy had gotten her to run off and hide).

"Let go of her!" Mac took a single step towards them…when she noticed that there were more of the smiling booth figures there, only spraying something at her face and knocking her to the ground, unconscious, the last thing she heard was Amy shouting before the world went dark.

~8~

Mac was sitting on a chair with her arms crossed, scowling as she faced a set of screens, a light dangling from above her, the only light in the room. The screens were off, the door was sealed shut with no obvious control panel to try and open it, no handles or anything, which meant…she was stuck. At least until the door opened. She'd woken up there, rather irritatedly, to find that she was trapped in a room with no windows, one sealed door, and that was it. She was angry with herself for getting caught by that gas instead of finding some way to get around it. She was even more irritated that she and Amy seemed to have been separated. That was not something she had wanted to happen.

"Kenzie!" she heard someone outside the door shouting, and knew instantly that it was the Doctor. He was the only one who called her Kenzie at the moment, "Kenzie!"

"Doctor!" she got up and headed to the door, knocking on it, "Doctor, I'm in here!"

"Oh thank god," the Doctor seemed to heave in relief, "How'd you get stuck in there?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'd rather tell you when I can actually get OUT."

"Right, yes," he went silent after that and all she could hear was the sound of the sonic whirring, "Told you I'D be the one rescuing YOU."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, my hero then."

The door suddenly slid open and the next thing she knew she was being enveloped in a tight hug by the Time Lord, "You're ok," he breathed in her ear, squeezing her tighter.

She smiled, "Can't get rid of me quite so easily," she murmured.

He pulled back and looked at her intently, "I NEVER want to be rid of you Kenzie, not ever…" he trailed off a moment, looking around the room, distracted by it, "What do we have here…"

"Some sort of preprogrammed advert, maybe?" Mac sighed, "I can't be sure, it wouldn't play."

"Why not?" he wondered, moving over to scan it with the sonic, looking at the results, "Set for human…" he mused.

"Good and bad," Mac remarked, "I saw a sign out there, Magpie Electricals or something," she told him, seeing his eyes widen, "Television screens going on randomly would be the _last_ thing I want."

"And bad?"

Mac blinked and gestured around, "Notice the missing human?"

The Doctor quickly spun around, rushing out, shouting, "Amy!"

Mac shook her head and rushed after him, the two of them looking around at the various other doors for her, "Amelia!"

"Over here!" they heard a voice shout, spinning around to see Mandy standing there at the end of the hall, "She's stuck in this one!"

"Amy!" the Doctor hurried over to it, scanning the sonic on the keypad outside the door, forcing it open. They nearly ran in, but saw Amy standing there, staring at the screens that were on for her, a recording of herself on them, seeming to be crying. They couldn't make out what she was saying before she switched it off, "Amy?"

"Are you alright?" Mac walked over to her, touching both her cheeks and searching her eyes for any signs of anything.

"What have you done?" the Doctor frowned, seeing that one of the buttons 'Forget' that was sitting on front of the monitors had been pushed, "Hold on…" he nudged them away, getting on Amy's chair to scan the lamp dangling from above her as Mac pulled out her penlight and flashed Amy across the eyes, checking her pupils.

"Basic memory wipe," both Mac and the Doctor mused at the same time.

The Doctor blinked and looked down at her, "How do you know that?" HE had the sonic to go off of.

"I've seen signs of this before," she shrugged, thinking about a rather… 'top secret' (or at least it was meant to be) facility that UNIT had in their deepest basements. She, personally, didn't see the harm in what UNIT was trying to do with the Black Archive, take all the most dangerous bits of tech and other items and keep them away from other humans, locking them up, not even trying to replicate them. She was rather proud of them for having the foresight and she'd inspected the security measures herself, she'd helped tweak them here and there, making them more secure. The memory loss was only one aspect of protection for it, she'd had to run a few tests when it had been installed, so she knew the signs of memory loss when she saw it.

"I'd say…20 minutes?" she guessed, looking at the Doctor.

"Just about," he nodded, hopping to the floor.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy frowned, shaking her head, not understanding what could possibly be so bad that she'd want to forget what she saw.

"Cos everyone does," Mandy offered, "Everyone chooses the 'forget' button."

"Did you?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Doctor, she's _12_," Mac reminded him.

"So?" he looked at Mac, "We were learning politics and running countries when we were 10."

"She's human."

"Never too early to learn politics," he sighed, "They really must start bringing back the extracurricular classes. Ooh!" he grinned, "I could volunteer! Teach a class on recreational mathematics, yes. That would be a blast! You could be my assistant," he smiled at Mac.

Mac just shook her head, "I think I'd be rubbish as an assistant."

"True," he nodded, "It wouldn't work if you were my assistant. You'd distract me."

"How would _I_ do _that_?" she laughed, amused, she'd always been a more 'silent helper' sort of person.

"You're doing it right now, aren't you?" he pointed out, "We _should_ be talking about the government conspiracy right now, but we're discussing lesson plans."

"No, I think YOU were discussing lesson plans, you're distracting yourself Doctor."

"No, no, I'm sure it's YOU that's distracting me what with your smirk and your sparkly eyes and your ginger hair," he reached out and flicked her bangs even more to the side, though it ended up being more like a lighter stroke across her forehead.

"Well, I think you need to work on putting aside your jealousy over my hair and focus on toppling the government," she remarked.

The Doctor pouted at that, sighing at how she'd taken that as jealousy. Ok, so his wooing abilities were a bit rusty then.

"How old do you have to be to vote Mandy?" Mac looked at her.

"Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice," Mandy informed them, "And then, once every five years..."

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned," the Doctor rubbed his forehead, getting back to the point, "Democracy in action," he moved back to the monitors, looking at them again, seeing if he could try and get the video to play.

"You ok Amy?" Mac looked back at the other ginger in question, "Your head feeling a bit clearer?"

She nodded, "Yeah, yeah," before she cleared her throat, "So…what was that with the Doctor just then?"

"We have this thing we can do, as Time Lords, where, if we're dying, we can heal ourselves by changing every cell in our body. But it turns us into new people. New body, new looks, new personality too. The Doctor," she glanced back at him, seeing him looking at the same monitor for what she was sure was the third time if the glimpses she caught out of the corner of her eye were anything to go by, "Has always wanted to be ginger and hasn't managed it yet. Now I'M a ginger and he's jealous."

"Oh," Amy let out what almost sounded like a relieved laugh at that, "It seemed like he was flirting with you for a minute there."

"No," Mac shook her head, with a little laugh, "I'm sure he wasn't."

The Doctor nearly rolled his eyes at that, ok…so he was VERY rusty then apparently.

"Eavesdropping is rude Doctor," Mac called over her shoulder, making him stiffen as she glanced at him, "Just because we're talking about you doesn't mean you need to listen in."

"I'll have you know, I was NOT listening in," he defended, "I was…checking these monitors," he flashed one of the monitors again.

"That's the fourth time you've scanned that one," she pointed out.

"Well it's not like I can get them to play again," he grumbled, "Then we'd at least know what it says."

"Why won't it play?" Amy frowned, "It played for me."

"It didn't for me either," Mac told her, "It's set for human apparently."

"It's still so weird," Amy remarked, "That you're not human. You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord," the Doctor countered, "We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?"

The Doctor glanced at Mac before he sighed, he really hated talking about this around her, not because he was afraid she'd be angry with him, but because…it really did just hurt them to remember they'd lost their planet, "No. There were, but there aren't," he looked over when he felt someone touch his shoulder to see it was Mac, squeezing it, "Just the two of us now," he smiled sadly at her, before he glanced at Amy, "Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened…"

"There was a war, Amy," Mac elaborated feeling like…as bad as it was to remember that, trying to gloss over it was almost…disrespectful to all those who died in it, "A really terrible war, and our people lost. Things got really bad at the end and…" she shook her head, "The safety of universe was at stake, and…" she squeezed the Doctor's shoulder again, "A very, very brave man made an unbearably difficult choice," she looked the Doctor intently in his eyes, "For the sake of every single life in the Universe," she blinked, feeling tears in her eyes, "I don't think I would have been strong enough to make that choice," she rubbed his shoulder, "He always was the strongest man I knew."

The Doctor blinked and stared at her, letting out a breath at that, just…staring. What she'd just said…he almost wanted to pinch himself for it, but that would mean moving and that would mean Mac might pull her hand away. He just couldn't believe she'd say that, but to hear it come from her…to hear that she really and truly DID understand what he'd done and why and just how torturous a decision it had been…to hear her thinking him strong and brave for having to make that choice? It…he couldn't even describe how that made him feel.

What he would not give to kiss her right at that moment.

Mac smiled and touched his cheek for a moment, "He always will be, I think. Because no matter what, he never forgets."

He'd just started to turn his head to lean into her touch when she pulled it away, the touch lasting less time than he'd have wanted, "I'd love to forget it all though," he whispered, startling Amy just a little that HE was the man Mac was talking about even though it was a little obvious who she'd been referring to, "Every last bit of it, but I don't," he agreed, "Not ever. Cos this is what I do," he started to smile, "Every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight," he warned Amy, "We're bringing down the government!" he beamed, slamming his hand down onto the 'Protest' button that was beside the 'Forget' button.

The door slammed shut, keeping Mandy out of the room, and they spun around, hearing a hissing noise to see one of the smiling things in the booths had turned its head and revealed a rather angry looking face. Mac reached out and grabbed Amy's arm, tugging her with her and the Doctor towards the corner of the room as the floor started to open wider and wider, cornering them.

"Say, 'Wheee!'" the Doctor cheered though Amy started to scream, Mac holding her breath as they fell through the floor, ending up in a chute of some sort.

It was all a blur of darkness with flashes of red lights and…slime of some sort, something wet was definitely starting to seep into their clothes. And then, of course, they ended up falling into a POOL of the wet substance, and the smell was just horrendous. Mac found herself reminded of when her brother had once decided to try and make his own fertilizer using garbage and rotting vegetables. That was what it smelled like, rotting vegetables and garbage.

The Doctor was on his feet in an instant, helping Mac up and flashing the sonic out at the space, trying to work out where they were, "High-speed air cannon," he muttered, "Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we?" Amy grimaced at the stench.

"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say...Lancashire. What's this, then, a cave?"

"It doesn't look like any cave I've seen," Mac murmured, looking around. There was a faint red glow surrounding them and the walls looked more organic than rock.

"It's a rubbish dump," Amy pushed herself up, "And it's minging!" she pushed a piece of the floating rubbish away.

"Then why's it only for the food products?" Mac shook her head, "It's definitely organic…were those chutes feeder tubes?"

Amy stumbled and fell back to her knees, frowning as she felt the floor, "The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed."

"But feeding what, though?" the Doctor looked at Mac, having thought the same thing, that the tubes were meant to feed something.

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it," Amy continued, not quite paying attention to what the Time Lords were saying, "Wet and slimy."

They all fell silent though, when they heard a faint moaning noise in the darkest recesses of the 'cave,' a noise that sounded actually pained, "Er..." the Doctor looked at Mac, then the back of the cave, then Amy, "It's not a floor, it's a..." he looked down as Mac pushed the sonic down, staring down the back of the cave intently, listening and realized the whirring was a bit distracting, so he put the sonic away, "So..."

"It's a what?" Amy shakily stood.

"Don't lie Doctor," Mac called, taking a step or two away from him, trying to squint into the darkness as she pointed her pen light at the back.

The Doctor winced, "The next word is kind of the scary word. Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place," he turned to Amy and took her hands, "Go 'omm.'"

"Omm?" Amy repeated.

"It's a tongue."

"A tongue?"

He grinned widely, "A tongue! A great big tongue."

"This is a mouth?" Amy hissed, "This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!"

"Yes, yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy."

"Doctor…there is NO plus side to this," Mac turned to face him, seeing something else that also made the negatives rather obvious.

"How do we get out?" Amy looked at them.

The Doctor moved to pull out the sonic again, but Mac just reached out to push it down, still staring out at what had caught her gaze behind him, "Blimey," the Doctor mumbled, "If this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," he looked up, startled, when he heard a grunting noise, "Though not right now!"

"Doctor, how do we get out?!"

"Ok," he tried to reason, "It's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is..."

"Shut," Mac sighed, pointing behind them, at the set of large, sharp teeth that were clenched shut, "I am really hoping that the tubes aren't in place because the 'normal entrance' CAN'T open," she looked at the Doctor.

'_I saw a tentacle before,_' she told him in his mind, having forgotten about it when they'd realized Amy was in danger, '_And I heard this noise…like it was in pain,_' she looked at him, shifting, '_If this is the same creature…_' which it likely was, she just…she could imagine that whatever put the tubes in had seen to it that the creature had no other ways of eating BUT the tubes.

"We can try, though," Amy tried to take a step towards the entrance.

"No!" the Doctor lunged forward to try and stop her, "Stop, don't move!" but it was too late, the ground, the tongue, started to shift, unbalancing them, "Too late. It's started."

"What has?"

"It's about to swallow," Mac warned her, falling backwards into the refuse with a grimaces, Amy falling over moments later.

"What are you doing?" Amy looked at the Doctor as he tried to use the sonic on the walls.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

"Oh no!" Mac groaned, trying to help Amy, "Don't do that!"

"Chemo-what?" Amy shook her head.

"The eject button!" the Doctor called.

"How does a mouth have an eject button?"

"Think about it!"

Mac winced, hearing the creature growl, "How does your body get rid of something that's upsetting your stomach Amy?"

"It gets sick and…" Amy seemed sick herself thinking on it.

It vomited.

"And here it comes," Mac nodded, the three of them standing there and facing a wave of bile that was racing towards them.

"Right, then," the Doctor took a breath, looking at Mac. He reached out and straightened her headband, pressing the wet locks out of her face before he straightened his own bowtie, "This isn't going to be big on dignity," he turned to face the bile, the three of them grabbing hands, "Geronimo!" he cried, Amy screaming, while Mac just closed her eyes and held her breath as it hit them…

~8~

"Amy?" a voice called as Amy slowly woke up to find herself lying on the ground of a gray sort of hall, Mac kneeling beside her, some of her hair dripping the refuse…but then again, as she moved, she could feel herself covered in it as well, "Here, let me help," she gently tugged Amy up to sit, "Are you ok? Does anything hurt? How's your head? Alright? You didn't swallow any of that did you?"

Amy winced, rubbing her head, "Head's a bit sore…"

"But nothing's broken," the Doctor called from the end of the hall where he was flashing the sonic at a door, "There's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick."

"Where are we?" Amy grunted as Mac helped her stand.

"Looks like an overspill pipe," Mac sighed.

"Oh, God, it stinks!"

"Not quite the pipe," Mac warned her.

Amy frowned but took a whiff of herself, realizing what the smell was, "Whoo! Can we get out?"

"One door," the Doctor shook his head as they headed over to him, Mac with an arm still around her to steady her as they walked, "One door switch, one condition," he stepped to the side, showing them the 'Forget' button in the middle of the door, "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot," he looked up as the lights came on to show there were two booths at the other end of the small hall with the 'things' in them, "Ooh, here's the stick. There's a creature living in the heart of this ship," he strode over to them, "What's it doing there?" he waited a moment, their faces spinning to a 'mad' sort of look, "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" the faces spun once more to 'very angry' and he rolled his eyes, "Oh, stop it. I've dealt with worse anger than you. I'm not leaving and I'm not letting any of us forget and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?"

"Doctor…stop using your mouth and start using your brain," Mac moaned, moving over to pull him back as the booths opened and the two figures actually stepped out and started walking towards them, "They were the ones that knocked me out!"

The Doctor lightly pushed Mac behind him, backing her up towards Amy, towards the door…when the door flew open and a woman in a red cloak strode in, firing at the two figures with small blasters in her hands. She made sure they were taken out before she twirled them on her fingers and put them back in her holsters.

"Look who it is!" the Doctor cheered, obviously recognizing the woman, "You look a lot better without your mask."

The woman in question turned, revealing a lovely woman with darker skin, black curly hair, grinning at them, "Agent Mackenzie," she greeted, winking at her, before nodding at Amy, "And you must be Amy. Liz," she introduced, "Liz 10."

"Hi?" Amy smiled, not sure who the woman was, but reaching out to shake her hand anyway.

"Eurgh!" Liz 10 looked at the slime on her hands before she wiped it on her cloak, "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick. Hope you don't mind if I forego the handshake?" she looked at Mac.

"By all means," Mac laughed, holding up her own sticky hands.

"Brilliant, thanks love," she turned to head back for the doors, "You know Mandy, yeah?" she spun around, Mandy peeking out around the corner of the door, "She's very brave," she said proudly, putting her arm around the girl.

"Yes she is," Mac winked at her.

"How did you find us?" the Doctor looked at Liz 10.

"Stuck my gizmo on you," she shrugged, pulling out a device.

"No," he shook his head, "I didn't take your device."

"Oh yes," Liz 10 nodded, humming, "You sort of ran off when I mentioned Amy and Mac in danger…"

The Doctor flushed at that, he'd sort of run off when she'd mentioned Mac was in danger, but to be fair, if Mac was in danger, it was likely that Amy was as well.

"Plenty of ways to find someone here," Liz 10 shrugged, "Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over 16, you've voted," he countered, "Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

"You're really oblivious in this body, aren't you?" Mac shook her head at him, a little amused, but also slightly concerned about that.

"What?" he frowned, looking at her, "What'd I miss?"

Mac sighed, "Oh Doctor, what am I going to do with you?"

He grinned, "Anything," he told her, "I am yours to command, milady," he gave an over exaggerated bow.

"You should be doing that to HER," Mac merely pointed to Liz 10.

"Why would I do that for her?" he frowned.

"SHE'S the Queen," Mac told him, "All those history classes we had, all the monarchs we studied, HER picture was among them."

"See?" Liz 10 smirked, "Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Ok," he nodded, "So we know you…how do you know us?"

"You're a bit hard to miss, love," she laughed, "You and Agent Mackenzie? The mysterious strangers, MOs consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot..." she looked pointedly at the Doctor who seemed about ready to argue before he just ran his hand through his hair, "I've been brought up on the stories of you two. My whole family was," she turned to smile at them, only to notice one of the 'things' had started to move, "They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she turned and quickly led the way out of the pipe and down the halls, "The Doctor and his Chosen. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you Doctor, weren't she? Knighted _and_ exiled you on the same day. And the Virgin Queen? Good thing you got out of there before tarnishing HER good name."

"Liz 10!" the Doctor finally worked it out.

"Liz 10, yeah," she nodded, "Elizabeth X. And down!" she spun around as they threw themselves at the ground and fired her blasters at two of the things following them, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule," she nodded to the side and led them into another corridor, past a vator shaft, "There's a high-speed Vator through there…"

"Doctor," Mac stopped, spotting two tentacles sticking up from the shaft, "That's what I saw earlier," she looked at him, "You hear it, don't you?"

He nodded, swallowing hard as he stared at the tentacles, how they went from calmly swaying, weakly swaying, to thrashing about and tensing.

"Oh, yeah," Liz 10 joined them, "There's these things. Any ideas?"

"It's all the creature," he nodded, "The same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

Liz 10 frowned at that, "What? Like an infestation?"

"Not quite," Mac shook her head, "We fell through a feeding tube, someone out there knows it's here and what it is if they're helping to feed it."

"Feed my subjects to it," Liz 10 nearly spat, angry at the notion, "Come on. We've got to keep moving," she stormed off the way she'd been heading, Mandy rushing after her, though the Time Lords and Amy remained behind.

"Doctor?" Amy asked tentatively, seeing them hesitating, "Mac?"

"Oh, Amy," the Doctor shook his head, reaching out to take Mac's hand for comfort when the tentacles began to slam against the bars again, the two of them able to hear what no others could, "We should never have come here."

"But now we're here," Mac countered, "And we need to help."

He swallowed hard and nodded, turning to head off after Liz 10, Amy following confusedly behind.

~8~

Mac was leaning against a bedpost in Liz 10's room, all of them now thankfully clean once more and smelling nice instead of like rotten vegetables, looking at a white porcelain mask that Liz had put on her face as she'd led them through the streets of her ship, trying to hide who she was it seemed. The mask was old, very old, an antique actually, it was quite clear that fact.

"Why all the glasses?" the Doctor called as he stepped over a mess of them set up on the floor by a mirror, all filled with water.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something," Liz 10 called as she reclined on her bed, just taking a moment to rest, "And it's my duty to find out what."

"I take it this is to help with that?" Mac held up the mask.

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this, my entire reign," she looked between them, "And you've achieved more in one afternoon."

"How old were you when you came to the throne?" the Doctor asked.

"40. Why?"

"What," Amy spun around from where she was putting her hair up, "You're 50 now? No way!"

"Yeah," Liz 10 smirked, "They slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps."

Mac frowned, looking at the mask as the Doctor stepped closer, eyeing it as well, "And you always wear that in public?" he asked.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."

"Air-balanced porcelain," Mac mumbled, tracing a finger along the edge of it, "That stays on because it matches the face perfectly…" she held it up to her own face.

"Don't do that," the Doctor reached out and took the mask from her, "Don't cover up that lovely face of yours," he winked at her.

Before Mac could comment, the doors opened and four men in black cloaks entered, Mac stiffening as she saw one from the alley that had been holding Amy when she'd stepped out of the tent, a black man.

"What are you doing?!" Liz 10 demanded, getting to her feet and striding up to them, outraged they would be so bold, "How dare you come in here?"

"Ma'am," the black man bowed his head, "You have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now."

"Why would I do that?" her eyes narrowed…only for the man's face to turn 180 degrees to reveal the same angry face as the things in the booths, "How can they be Smilers?" she gasped, the smilers were mechanical!

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor shrugged.

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the half-Smiler replied.

"I AM the highest authority."

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."

"Where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am."

"Please tell me he means an enchanted tower," Mac moaned.

The Doctor chuckled at that, "I think he means the OTHER Tower."

Mac sighed but followed them all out as the Queen stormed past the doors, wanting to know who would dare command HER on where to go.

~8~

Compared to the rest of the ship, the Tower was rather medieval in design, a large stone room that had various bits of higher tech control panels and machines set up. There were a few wells in the floor, most of which had grating over them, yet the tentacles were bashing against them. While the humans fretted about the tentacles, the Time Lords were more concerned with a well in the center, one without a grate over it, but with a pointed machine above a pink lump that was resting in the well.

"Where are we?" Amy frowned, looking around.

"Where else would they take prisoners?" Mac countered, "The dungeon."

"Ma'am!" an old, gray-haired man with thick glasses walked over.

Liz 10's eyes widened at seeing him and a smile bloomed on her face in recognition, "Hawthorne! So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."

"Let's start with what in the world you're doing taking children down here!?" Mac demanded, seeing a few children milling about, carrying things in and out of the room, "Children have NO place in a dungeon!"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne said sadly, "For some reason, it won't eat the children."

Mac blinked, "You've tried FEED this beast CHILDREN?!" she shook her head and looked at Liz 10, "Elizabeth," the woman actually seemed to wince at that, the use of her full name, "You had best tell me why your people are trying to feed innocent children to a creature before I take a leaf out of the Doctor's book this time and overthrow you myself!"

The Doctor bit back a tiny smile at that. The last Mac resorted to formalities when she was angry, as though she were distancing herself from the person in question. She'd just done it again, used Liz's full name, but…this time he got the impression it was more a chastising/'disappointed mother' sort of way. He shook his head though a little when he realized the 'leaf' she was talking about was Harriet Jones, at least she seemed to be over how he'd deposed her now.

"You're the first adults it's spared," Hawthorne added, "You're very lucky."

The Doctor scoffed at that, "Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it?" he glanced at a control panel, "Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle."

"Perception is everything," Mac mused darkly as she glared at the various scientists wandering about, her gaze falling back to the pink thing as a surge of electricity was shot down into it. If only these humans could hear it screaming.

"What's that?" Liz 10 followed her gaze.

"Well, like I say," the Doctor stepped over to the well, looking down into it, "Depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly..."

"Or?" Liz 10 looked up.

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator, Starship UK's go-faster button."

"I don't understand."

"Pain can be a remarkable motivator," Mac told her, "You torture someone enough, they'll do anything to stop it, even wear themselves to the death to 'go faster' and keep going because of it. Especially animals."

"Come on Lizzie, try and work it out," the Doctor urged, "The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading…"

"THIS is your engine," Mac gestured angrily at the pink lump, "THIS is where your people poke and prod it and force it to keep going.

They looked back over as another electrical surge went into it, "Tell you what," the Doctor moved over to another well, Mac rushing over to pull the grate off it as he whipped out the sonic, "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing…" he looked over as one of the tentacles shot up, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear!" and flicked the sonic on, filling the room with deep, pained cries, like a whale song that was suffering and dying.

"Stop it," Liz 10 pleaded.

"Just imagine Elizabeth," Mac shook her head at her, disappointed, "THAT's the sound it's been making since the beginning of your reign. All these years, screaming, and none of you heard it."

Liz 10 swallowed hard, feeling tears in her eyes and spun around to face Hawthorne, "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," the man recited.

"I _am_ the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now!" she seemed startled when no one lifted a finger to follow her command, "Is anyone listening to me?"

"They haven't done in the last 200 years," Mac told her.

"What do you mean, 200 years?" Liz 10 looked at her, confused.

"Your mask," she nodded at it as the Doctor pulled it out of his pocket, "The one you wear that matches your face, detail for detail? It's at least 200 years old," she shook her head, "Elizabeth, a craftsman made it centuries ago…to YOUR face. YOU would have had to BE there for him to do it."

Liz 10 blinked, "I don't…"

"They slowed your body clock, alright," the Doctor eyed her, "But you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign."

"Nah, it's ten years," Liz 10 shook her head, "I've been on this throne ten years."

"Your people have been perfecting memory wipes," Mac reminded her, "20 minutes or 20 years, it's only a matter of power levels."

"You've been living the same ten years over and over again," the Doctor reached out to take her hand, pulling her with him to a voting booth he'd spotted in the back when they'd first entered, "Always leading you here."

Liz 10 looked down at the 'Forget' and 'Abdicate' buttons before she gaped at Hawthorne, horrified, "What have you done?"

Hawthorne looked down, a weariness of a man who had answered this question FAR too many times about him, "Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," he leaned over and turned the screen on, playing a message from Liz 10 herself.

"If you are watching this," the recording began as the real Liz 10 slowly sat before it, "If _I_ am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the star whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the 'forget' button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

"I voted for this?" Amy breathed, shaking her head as the recording went to static, "Why would I do that?" she looked at the Time Lords.

"Humans hate to face their cruelty," Mac shrugged, "Confront them with the crimes of the past and they'll try to ignore it. It…hurts to think of the terrible things you've done. That," she nodded at the 'Forget' button, "Allows them to truly make it so it never happened."

"You knew, Amy, that if we stayed here, Kenzie and I would be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor added, "Humanity or the alien. Perhaps you took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong," he looked at her.

"The two of us, Amy…" Mac glanced at the Doctor, "No secrets, not anymore. Secrets destroy everything," she turned back to the ginger girl, "YOU do not get to decide what we need to know and what we should not."

They both agreed to that, after learning about the war, the time lock, no more secrets, not again. If something was happening, they wanted open communication, they wanted all the details because they'd both seen what knowing only part of a story could do, what it could destroy. They needed to know EVERYTHING about a situation to make an informed decision and try to help to the best of their ability. This…was dangerous, keeping this from them, the truth…it was wrong. If they'd known it was a Star Whale first, if Amy hadn't chosen to forget, they'd have known more, been more careful, NOT gotten caught.

"I don't even remember doing it," Amy reminded them.

"You did it," the Doctor muttered harshly, "That's what counts."

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"Oh, I don't care," he shot her a narrow eyed look, before turning to storm across the room to another control panel, "When we're done here, you're going home."

"Why?" Amy demanded, following him, "Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it. Doctor!"

"And that mistake may cost a Star Whale its life or its freedom," Mac joined him, "Amy…YOU are a guest on the TARDIS, you were invited to come, that doesn't give you free reign to do as you please or make you entitled to continue travelling with us."

"Should have known," the Doctor mumbled, "Only human…"

"What are you doing?" Liz 10 asked cautiously, recalling the tales of the Doctor's rage. While Mac was more…impatient and could get snappy when things that were important to her were at stake, the Doctor could truly be furious and angry and that…was not a good thing.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"That'll be like killing it," Amy frowned.

"Look, three options," he rubbed his head, looking at them as Mac eyed the equipment, "One…we let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two…we kill everyone on this ship. Three…I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can and then I find a new name, cos I won't be the Doctor anymore."

Mac looked over at him for that, he'd started with 'we' for the first two options and ended with 'I' for the last one…

'_Because I can't let you do this,_' she heard in her mind, '_I can't make you responsible for this Naery. I won't have the blood of a Star Whale on YOUR hands too._'

'_But you'd coat your own?_' she frowned at him.

He gave a bitter, humorless laugh in her mind, '_Mine are already soaked in it…one more creature won't make a difference._'

She reached out to touch his hand, stilling his motions for a moment, '_It will though, it may not show on your hands, Theta, but you'd feel it in your hearts._'

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz 10 tried to insist, cutting into the Doctor's thoughts before he could respond to Mac.

"Nobody talk to me," he muttered, before suddenly shouting, "Nobody _human_ has anything to say to me today!"

"Just…" Mac began as the humans jumped, "Give me a mo, Doctor. Give me time, and…I can try to work out something…"

"I doubt paperclips and rubber bands will help with this," he scoffed as the humans stepped back and left them alone.

She blinked, unamused, "Yes, thanks, I wasn't aware of that," she remarked dryly, "I was going to say that…what if we try and focus a charge more to the pain receptors themselves. If we can, I dunno, scar them or sever them or something, the whale won't feel pain."

"But then what would be there to keep it going?" he countered.

"You tell me, what would be there to keep the ship actually flying instead of drifting aimlessly if you knock out its higher functions?" she shot back.

He sighed, rubbing his head, "Fine, fine, we'll…we'll try that first. But…Kenzie, a jolt like that…it'll either scar the receptors…or overwhelm them. It could KILL the whale instead."

Mac bit her lip, thinking on that, "With the two of US on it?" she shrugged, "Maybe there's a chance it'll live."

The Doctor shook his head, "We can't risk that," he turned back to the controls, getting back to setting it to turn the whale into a vegetable, "We need to make sure…"

"Doctor, stop!" they heard Amy shout suddenly and looked up to see her running over to them, "Whatever you're doing, stop it now! Mac make sure he doesn't touch anything!" before she spun around and ran to Liz 10, grabbing her hand, "Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand…"

She began to pull Liz 10 past the controls, past the grate Mac had opened where Mandy and a little boy, Timmy, were being pet by the tentacle, and over to the voting booth.

"Amy what are you doing?" Mac called as she ran around the control panel.

"Amy, no!" the Doctor seemed to realize what was coming and rushed to stop her, "No!"

But Amy slammed Liz 10's hand down on 'Abdicate,' making the entire ship shake and jolt, sparks flying from the controls around them…before it stilled.

"Amy, what have you done?"

"Nothing at all," she smiled, looking at Hawthorne, "Am I right?"

"We've INCREASED speed!" Hawthorne reported, completely flabbergasted.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help," Amy sent the Time Lords a smirk.

"It's still here?" Liz 10 blinked, shaking her head, just stunned, "I don't understand."

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago," Amy explained, "It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it, that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone?" she glanced at the Time Lords, "Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind..." she smiled at them, "You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

~8~

"Do you ever think about it?" the Doctor wondered as he and Mac stood on an observation deck in the Starship UK, looking out at the stars beyond, Amy being honored by Liz 10 with a new title, 'Dame Amelia' and so on.

"About what?" Mac glanced at him.

"This," he gestured out at the ship, "Searching the stars for a new home?"

"Why would I?" she frowned.

He shrugged, "I don't know, it's just…our planet's gone. There might be another out there you could settle on or…"

"I meant, why would I do that," she cut in lightly, "I already have a home."

"Right," he nodded, wincing, "Earth, UNIT."

"Doctor," she smiled at him, waiting till he looked at her to give him a look, "I…I was actually talking about the TARDIS."

He blinked, "You…were?"

She laughed, "It's…part of our planet, it's part of our home. Earth is…a lovely place to visit but…it never _really_ felt like a home to me," she could admit that now.

She knew that, before, in her last body, she'd been trying to make Earth her home, make it a place for her live out her life, a planet to call her home. But really…it wasn't Gallifrey, the humans weren't her people. She'd been trying to think of Earth as her home for an excuse of something to go back to. A reason NOT to need to travel or stay in the TARDIS. If she called Earth her home, then the Doctor couldn't guilt her into staying in the TARDIS by saying it was a home. But…it really was, it WAS her home, it…always might have been.

"And the TARDIS IS?" he had to be sure.

"Yes," she took a breath, "The TARDIS is my home."

"So…you won't be leaving to go back to Earth?"

"No, I'd…I'd like to stay. If you'd have me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he beamed at her, nearly feeling like he should punching the air or do a dance to celebrate, instead he settled for reaching out to hug her, "I'm glad you're staying with me Naery," he murmured in her ear.

"I'm glad you still want me around Theta," she countered, pulling away a moment later, "After how I treated you and…"

"We agreed that's the past," he reminded her with a wink, "New future."

She nodded, "New future."

"From Her Majesty!" they heard Amy call as she half skipped over to them, a wide smile on her face, and handed the Doctor Liz 10's mask, "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"Amelia…" Mac began.

"Oh, here we go," Amy sighed, "What is it mum?"

Mac laughed, "Hush," she poked her, before growing serious, "What you did before…if you had been wrong, you could have killed this entire ship."

"You both could have killed a Star Whale," she countered.

"And you saved it," the Doctor nodded, "I know, I know."

"Amazing, though, don't you think?" she smiled at them, "The Star Whale. All that pain and misery...and loneliness. And it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

"YOU couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?"

"I very nearly hated the Doctor," Mac said quietly, making Amy look at her, "My life was nothing but pain and misery and loneliness Amy," she looked at Amy intently, "And I didn't react nearly as well as the Doctor did to it. I…I didn't rise above it but let it get to me. I was bitter and angry and…spiteful. At times, I DID hate him. Amelia…people and animals react differently depending on their nature and their lives. You may see kindness in the Doctor, but please…in the future, don't superimpose that onto an animal ok? Because I have seen dogs that have been tortured and they become vicious, biting things that will attack you first. The Doctor and I, we DON'T know what a Star Whale is like. We really didn't. It could be in their nature to be kind as equally as it could be for them to be capable of cruelty when subjected to it," she reached out to put her hand on Amy's shoulder, "I'm glad you were right. I'm glad the Star Whale was kind, in the end, and that the children were proof of that. But please…TELL us when you're going to do something like that so we can at least have a backup in case you're wrong, ok?"

Amy nodded, a little shaken to realize that the woman before her had been so…angry with the Doctor, had felt what the man had and turned out differently than him, "Ok."

"Now come here Pond," the Doctor reached out and hugged her tightly, "Welcome aboard the TARDIS."

~8~

The small trio walked briskly through the market, heading for the TARDIS, smiles on their faces to know that everyone lived for once, "Shouldn't we say goodbye?" Amy asked, "Won't they wonder where we went?"

"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor grinned, "Oh, the songs they'll write…" he trailed off, thinking about the Ood Songs and Donna and his own song, "Never mind them," he took a breath, pushing that from his thoughts, "Big day tomorrow."

"Sorry, what?" Amy stopped short just outside the doors.

"It's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

"And Sundays," Mac added, pulling her TARDIS key on her necklace and unlocking the door.

"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning," Amy began, she hadn't exactly told the Doctor about her marrying Rory and it seemed to have slipped Mac's mind in all the excitement, "Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could?"

"Once...a long time ago," the Doctor nodded, glancing at Mac.

"What happened?"

"A Hero's Journey," he smiled, "Adventure, hardship, and hopefully a happy ending," he eyed Mac a moment longer before joining her at the console as a phone began to ring.

"Right," Amy took a breath, "Doctor, there's something I haven't told you. No. Hang on, is that a phone ringing?" she frowned, looking at the phones on the console, "People phone you?"

"Amy, it IS a phone box," Mac laughed, "Could you get it though," she nodded across the console, "We're in the middle of dematerialization."

Amy blinked but answered, "Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously. Who?" she frowned and placed the phone to her shoulder, "Says he's Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?" the Doctor asked as Mac pulled a lever.

"Er, which Prime Minister?" she looked at them again, "The British one."

"Which one?" Mac repeated.

"Which one?" she stilled suddenly, her eyes the size of saucer as she handed the phone to the Doctor, stunned, "Winston Churchill for you."

"Oh!" he smiled, taking it up, "Hello, dear. What's up?"

"Tricky situation, Doctor," Winston replied, "Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you."

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way," he set the phone down and winked at Mac, knowing this would be right up her alley, even though she wasn't with UNIT at the moment and considered the TARDIS her true home…Earth was still important to her, and to him, and if Winston needed help…it was a matter of life or death.

A/N: Awww, Mac sees the TARDIS as a home now :') I'll admit this episode and the next weren't my favorites, but I'm very excited for the River episodes and then we get Rory! ^-^ I can say that the next chapter though might see a small return of 'angry Mac' but also the Doctor reacting to Daleks around 'Kenzie' for the first time ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, 11 reminds me of a boy with a crush trying to win a girl over too :) I love his little childish nature, I think it adds a sweetness/adorableness to his efforts :)

I didn't like Amy doing that either, watching the Doctor when her boyfriend was right there :( I really wanted Mac to sort of point out a few things Amy did, especially with the kissogram thing and having a boyfriend too :( Rory reminds me of a puppy too :) I think you could probably look out the windows. There were (I think) smaller almost porthole like windows around the console room, maybe those just space out but also are the square windows too? Not a clue lol :)

Yup, I know a Time Lord can swap genders in regeneration, like the Corsair ;)

Amy and Mac will have a sort of confusing relationship to start. Amy won't like how the Doctor flirts more and more with Mac as the story goes, even if Mac can't quite seem to see that it's genuine flirting, she'll dislike Mac for getting his attention, but at the same time Mac will be the one to try and stick with her and protect her and she knows things about Mac that make her almost pity her (like the not having children thing) so she'll be torn between seeing an enemy and a friend...lol, frenemies :)

We'll have to see about Teddy ;) This story will have 17 chapters (13 episodes, 1 mini-sode, 2 for the Christmas Special, and 1 SJA chapter). We'll have to wait and see how it goes in the Lodger ;) I can say 11 won't be shushing Mac, he's worked too hard to get her talking to him without any biting remarks, I don't think he'd risk telling her to shut up now ;)

Lol, nope, not gonna tell who River Song is just yet ;) Good thing we only have about a month to wait though :)


	4. Victory of the Daleks

Victory of the Daleks

Amy gripped the console tightly as the box landed with a thud, finally stopping in its shaking, "Are we there?" she looked at the Time Lords, "Did we make it?"

She had been led to the wardrobe by Mac about an hour ago and selected some clothes to wear that suited her style, she'd also taken another shower because she SWORE she could still smell that refuse, which made her cringe to think on. She'd entered the console room to see Mac and the Doctor bickering about something, coordinates she thought, and what would be the proper location to set down for a meeting with Winston. They'd traced the call he'd put to them and knew the proper time to set down, but the Doctor was (according to Mac) being entirely inaccurate about the proper method of setting the TARDIS to get them there and started citing some sort of manual by heart that the Doctor was arguing against, something about Mac being too technical about how to fly the box.

The next thing she knew the Doctor had grabbed a lever and the room was shaking.

"Near enough," Mac glanced at the monitor, running a check on the area, "We're a month off Doctor."

He shrugged, "I bet hardly anything happened."

Mac gave him a look, "You've seen humans turn on each other and be willing to resort to murder in under an hour," she reminded him, "And with Winston in the middle of a WAR?"

"Right…" he nodded slowly, "We'd best check on him…"

He started heading for the doors when Mac caught sight of something on the monitor, "No wait!"

But he'd already stepped out of the box and right in front of a group of soldiers that had rushed into the room and aimed their guns at him. Luckily though, a rather large man entered the room and the soldiers immediately parted for him, making the Doctor beam, "Kenzie? Amy? Come on out and meet Winston Churchill."

Mac slowly stepped out of the TARDIS, Amy just behind her as Winston stared at the Doctor in shock, "Doctor? Is it you?"

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" the Doctor just laughed, holding out a hand to shake Winston's only for the man to turn his hand over and gesture as though he wanted something from him, "Ah, every time!"

"What's he after?" Amy frowned.

"The TARDIS key," Mac remarked, "He'll write about it in code when he alludes to references of the Doctor in history books."

Winston looked at the Doctor then Mac, "Remarkable, time travel!"

"Time LADY," Mac corrected, "Agent Mackenzie, of…an organization that doesn't exist yet," she reached out and shook his hand, making the man chuckle at her near flub, "Let's just say I did research about you and the Doctor. Quite eager to get this," she held up the key around her neck, making Winston start to smirk, "Don't even try," she warned him.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "No stealing Kenzie's key, hey!" he cheered at that, "Kenzie's Key," he looked at her, nodding in amusement at that, before turning back to point at Winston warningly, "I gave her that key, it was a gift, so no stealing."

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor!" Winston lamented, "The lives that could be saved!"

"And THAT's why humans aren't meant to have access to time travel," Mac remarked, "You'd get into all sorts of trouble."

She blinked when she saw them all staring at her, "What?"

Amy shook her head, "The Doctor," she pointed at him, "It's HIS box…and you think HUMANS would get into more trouble?" she started to laugh a bit as did Winston.

"Well, hopefully it'll be a bit less trouble now," Mac countered.

"Oh it will be," the Doctor nodded, absently putting his arm around Mac's shoulders, "You'll keep me right, eh Kenzie?"

"If you LISTEN to me at times," she poked him.

"Course I will, I always do," he winked, "I could listen to your voice to the end of eternity and back," he spun in an excited circle at that.

Mac laughed, "You're like an over excited puppy whose master's just come home."

"Close enough to the truth," he winked at her, leaning back against the TARDIS doors.

It really was, well not the part about him being a puppy or about him having a master, he was his own man, thank you very much…though he honestly wouldn't mind if Mac ordered him about a little. He knew he gave ample orders to companions and friends alike and expected them to listen, it would only be fair if she got to give some orders too. He knew she couldn't be an official pilot for the TARDIS, not without Gallifrey being there, but he liked to think she was unofficially a pilot and the fact that she saw the TARDIS as a home now just made it all the better. In a way, her words were true, because he would follow her to the ends of the universe like a puppy and she HAD come home, to the TARDIS, to him.

"Well then try your hand at being a guard dog then and protect the TARDIS key," she joked.

"I'd protect more than just the key," he mused, "More like the key and everything around it."

"In that case then, must I take it by force?" Winston smirked at the Doctor.

"I'd like to see you try," he challenged the man.

Winston chuckled, and waved the soldiers off, "At ease," he ordered and they lowered their rifles.

"You rang?"

Winston gestured for them to follow and turned to make his way out of the room and towards the halls, the Time Lords following after him. Amy was a bit slower to follow, a small frown on her face as she looked between the Doctor and Mac, walking after them. That just then…that really DID sound like flirting. And the things that the Doctor had said, the way he'd said it…she got the feeling he might be a bit more interested in the Time Lady than he was letting on. But, to her credit, Mac didn't seem to notice he was flirting, or if she did…she wasn't reciprocating in the same way the Doctor was. And, as terrible as that was, it gave her a bit of hope that either Mac wasn't interested or that the Doctor might lose interest in his efforts…either way it might mean there may yet be a way to snag a moment or two with the Doctor.

"So you've changed your face, again?" Winston remarked as he strode down the hall.

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done," the Doctor shrugged.

"You're not the only one," Mac nudged him, "Or did you forget?"

"Nah," he waved it off, "I just didn't want to say, that's…that's what you do yes? You don't mention a women's age or things like that, right?"

"I'm not women."

"No you're not," he smiled softly at her, "You're just…"

"Got it!" Amy suddenly shouted as she looked around, NOT looking at the Time Lords, nope, that was not what she'd been looking at before, "Got it, got it! Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

"Exactly," Mac nodded, turning to Amy as the Doctor pouted, "The secret War Office, hidden just under London."

"You're late, by the way Doctor," Winston remarked.

"Requisitions, sir," a young woman came up to them, handing Winston a clipboard and pen.

"Excellent," Winston took the board, handing off the cane he'd been walking with to the Doctor in exchange.

"How late?" Mac started to smirk.

"I rang a month ago," Winston told her, signing the papers.

"Ha!" Mac pointed at the Doctor triumphantly, "Told you!"

"Really?" he rubbed the side of his cheek, "Sorry. Sorry, it's a Type 40 TARDIS. We're just running her in."

Mac rolled her eyes at that but let the lie go this time. It was more that she'd been trying to tell him he was setting the coordinates from the trace wrong and had tried to find the manual…only to learn an interesting fact about where the manual had ended up.

"Something the matter, Breen?" Winston asked the young woman as he handed her back the clipboard, "You look a little down in the dumps."

Breen swallowed hard and hugged the clipboard to her chest, "No, sir. Fine, sir."

"Action this day, Breen! Action this day!"

"Yes, sir," she nodded and gave a forced smile before heading off.

Mac was about to step after her, wanting to check and make sure she was ok for clearly she was not and ask if there was anything she could do to help…when another officer stepped in the way, blocking the path, "Excuse me, sir," he spoke to Winston, "Got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them."

"We shall go up top then, Group Captain!" Winston grinned, "We'll give 'em what for! Coming, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked over from where he'd been staring at Mac with a soft smile, seeing her concern for the young girl, "Why?"

Winston sighed and snatched his cane back from where it was tucked under the Doctor's arm, "I have something to show you," he grinned and turned, gesturing them to follow after him as he got into the lift at the end of the hall.

It was a bit cramped in the small lift, the four of them all smushed together as it moved. The Doctor looked over when he saw Mac making a rather disgusted look out of the corner of his eye when Winston lit up a cigar and started puffing away at it as they waited. He immediately reached out and plucked the cigar from the man's hands, dropping it to the ground and stomping it out

"Nasty habit," he told Winston in excuse when the man gave him a hard look for the action, "Need to keep an eye on your health dear. Keep that blood pressure low and that heart healthy eh?"

Winston let out a huff but turned to the doors, waiting for them to open.

The Doctor looked down, feeling something take his hand for a moment and squeeze it before he looked up at Mac again, seeing her smiling at him, '_Thank you_,' she murmured in his head and he beamed at that. Her mental voice, the voice he heard in his mind was getting stronger and stronger every time she talked to him in it. He knew it was likely because, with no other telepathic people around, she hadn't had much use of communicating that way and had probably grown rusty. The more she spoke to him, the stronger she was getting.

"We stand at a crossroads," Winston told them as they reached the top, the gates starting to open, "Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."

"What sort of advantages?" Mac frowned as Winston opened the last metal gate and stepped out onto the roof of the establishment. She hated it when humans were in desperate straits, it always meant they were willing to utilize any option and half the time it meant for those 'in the know' to seek out alien help…and then the tech got involved and advancement was in danger and just a mess of things she ended up having to sort out.

"Follow me," he smiled, leading them across the roof that was littered with sandbags, to another area where there was another section of the roof raised up. A man was standing there in a white lab coat, watching the sky with binoculars.

"Wow…" Amy breathed as she stared out at the city, daylight, with huge balloons drifting past, a peaceful day, relatively speaking in the scope of them being in the middle of a war.

"Doctor," Winston gestured up to the man on the roof, "This is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project."

The Doctor smiled and gave the man a 'V for Victory' sign as Bracewell nodded back at them, offering a small wave, "How d'you do?" he smiled at them, before turning back to look out the binoculars again, spotting a line of German planes heading for them in the distance.

"Oh," Amy shook her head, "It's…"

"History in the making," Mac murmured, nodding.

"Ready, Bracewell?" Winston called.

"Aye aye, sir," Bracewell smiled, giving the man a thumbs up and turning to something they couldn't quite make out hidden behind a stack of sandbags, "On my order! Fire!"

Mac flinched, gasping as a laser shot out from behind the bags and struck the German planes, destroying them all. The Doctor stiffened beside her and stared in horror at the sky where the smoke of the destroyed planes was still wafting, both of them just…horrified and more than a little alarmed to see such a laser…because they recognized that laser…

But it couldn't be!

"What was that?" Amy cheered, impressed.

"That wasn't human," the Doctor started shaking his head, "That was never human technology."

"Doctor," Mac grabbed his arm, "That sounded like a…"

He nodded, patting her hand a moment, squeezing it before he turned and ran towards a ladder to the top of the roof, "Show me! Show me what that was!" he demanded of Bracewell.

"Advance!" the man called.

"Our new secret weapon," Winston chuckled even as Mac, who had remained on the bottom half of the roof, pulled Amy back as though to protect her when a Dalek, painted in army greens and camouflage rolled out from behind the bags, "What do you think? Quite something, eh?"

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor breathed, staring at it.

"I am your soldier," it responded.

"What?"

"I am your soldier."

The Doctor shook his head, "Stop this. Stop now! You know who I am, you always know."

"Your identity is unknown."

"Perhaps I can clarify things here," Bracewell smiled and moved to stand beside the Dalek, ignoring Mac's calls of protest and warning, "This is one of my Ironsides."

"Your what?" the Doctor gaped at him.

Bracewell just patted the Dalek on the top and looked down at it, "You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?"

"Yes," it replied.

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

The Doctor shook his head and stepped back from it, looking down to the lower roof, to Mac as she looked up at him in return, swallowing hard before her gaze fell on the Dalek again.

~8~

Mac was shifting through paper after paper, frowning, biting her lip, shaking her head as evidence glared out at her that his was WRONG. All the schematics and plans and notes that Bracewell had that Winston had given them to prove they were the man's creations upon the Doctor's insistence that they were not screamed at her that the man had NO idea what he was doing. This was JUST like ATMOS all over again, the tech was FAR too advanced for anyone in this decade to even come CLOSE to knowing! But while she silently made a list of the issues with all of this, the Doctor was trying his hand at arguing loudly with Winston as they stood in the man's office about it.

"They're Daleks!" the Doctor insisted, "They're called Daleks!"

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Doctor," Winston huffed, "Look! Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs…"

"And they are ALL far too ahead of their time Winston," Mac moved over to them, "That team I'm a part of that hasn't been founded yet, THIS is what we do. We look at the evidence, we look at the tech, and we look at the capabilities of those creating it and this…" she shook her head, putting the blueprints down, "This is too advanced for anyone in this century to be able to come up with. Whatever is going on here, Winston, the Daleks are…"

"They are NOT Daleks!" Winston snapped, "They are Ironsides. Bracewell invented them!"

"Invented them?" the Doctor scoffed, "Oh, no, no, no!"

"Yes!" Winston glared at him, "He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy remarked, just looking around the office, not seeming at all perturbed or upset or frightened of the alien death machines that were rolling around the base, "Maybe you should listen to..."

"Shh!" the Doctor hissed at her, before turning to Winston, "He didn't invent them! They're alien."

"Alien?" Winston frowned.

"Yes," Mac said firmly, about to add more when she fell quiet, hearing a crackling noise from the hall, faint though it was. She'd set up a small set of crumpled papers outside the doors so that, if anyone stepped on it or rolled over it (like a Dalek) they'd hear them. She glanced over her shoulder to see a Dalek gliding past the door, its eyes talk locked on the two of them, before it kept on, "They ARE alien Winston, even if they might be made with human tech, if the plans are alien, THEY are alien!"

"And they're totally hostile!" the Doctor added in a hiss.

"Precisely," Winston nodded, "They will win me the war!" he flipped over one of the blueprints to reveal a propaganda poster of a large Dalek on it, all the same message, how the Daleks would win them the war, before the man turned and huffed out of the room, striding about and doing his very best to ignore them as they rushed after him.

"Why won't you listen?" the Doctor argued, "Why call me in if you won't listen to me?!"

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."

"That's usually what things like that ARE," Mac warned wisely, "If it's too good to be true, then it's NOT true."

"Well…" the Doctor began, "I'm not sure about that applying to everything. I found you again," he looked at her softly.

"And I'm not a Dalek," she countered, even though she knew she was near enough one before.

"You were too good to be true though," he murmured, "Another Time Lady, alive, and it was YOU."

"And I gave you hell for it," she reminded him, "So it certainly wasn't 'too good' that I as there. I WAS very much like a Dalek Doctor, and right now we need to stop them."

"Yes!" he agreed, turning to Winston, "Destroy them! Exterminate them!"

"But imagine what I could do with a hundred!" Winston nearly shouted, "A thousand!"

"That's the thing about imagination," Mac countered again, "What we think will happen and what actually DOES are two VERY different things!"

The Doctor tugged her back as another Dalek passed them, "Amy, tell him!" he ordered her lightly.

Amy just frowned, "Tell him what?"

"About the Daleks!"

Amy snorted, amused, "What would _I_ know about the Daleks?"

"Everything. They invaded your world, remember?"

But Amy just stared at them blankly, which made Mac frown, "When the earth was stolen? There were planets in the sky and…" Mac blinked, "You weren't hung-over were you?" she had to ask, thinking about how Donna had apparently missed an invasion or two because she was hung-over.

"Amy..." the Doctor stared at her, alarmed, "Tell me you remember the Daleks."

"Nope," she shrugged, "Sorry."

"That's not possible," the Doctor shook his head, but Amy just kept walking, following Winston into the 'Map Room' of the War Offices, the heart of the organization.

"How could she forget something like that?" Mac frowned, not understanding what was going on at all.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, "But we need to find out," he led her off and into the Map Room as well.

"And 6..." Breen was reporting as different men and women moved pieces and representations of different troops across the map, "2357, over! 2357, over!"

Mac tugged the Doctor back this time as another Dalek glided past them as they stepped in, "They've got to be up to something," she murmured, not trusting them at all.

"But what is it?" the Doctor agreed, "What are they after?"

Amy rolled her eyes at them as they just stood there, "Well, let's just ask, shall we?" she walked right over to one.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted at her at the same time as Mac tried to reach for her with a call of, "Amelia!"

Amy shook her head at their concern and tapped a Dalek on the head, making it swivel sharply around towards her, nearly catching her in the head with the motion had she not leant back, "Can I be of assistance?"

"Ah," she smiled, "Yes. Yes! See, my friends reckon you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldier."

"Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?"

"Please excuse me. I have duties to perform."

Mac and the Doctor watched as the Dalek headed out of the room before they felt safe enough to move, the Doctor heading right for Winston and grabbing the cigar out of the man's mouth before he could light it this time.

"Winston, Winston, please…" the Doctor tried.

But Winston cut him off, "We are waging total war, Doctor! Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

"And the Daleks will be even worse!" Mac argued, joining them, "Please, think of your people!"

"I am," Winston narrowed his eyes at her, "Men, women and children slaughtered by the enemy. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames."

"Yeah?" the Doctor scoffed, "Try the Earth in flames!"

"I weep for my country, I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart."

"You're not listening to a WORD we are saying!" Mac snapped, getting very, very angry about how he was ignoring them.

It was like he was blinded by the Daleks and she hated that. THAT was one of the reason she still felt humans had to grow on her, they were so…so…so bone dead stupid that the never listened when people who actually KNEW what they were talking about warned them against doing something! She couldn't count the number of times in UNIT that she'd had to literally rip something from someone's hand, confiscate weapons and samples, even have people detained and suspended so she could stop them from doing something that would destroy the world. When they got caught up, when they thought they were right, they never EVER listened!

They had all the potential to be worse than the Time Lords in their arrogance and she wouldn't stand there and watch them destroy themselves too.

"You're resisting, Winston!" the Doctor argued again, "The whole world knows you're resisting! You're a beacon of hope."

"But for how long?" Winston sighed, signing another piece of paper, "Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now!"

"Can I be of assistance?" a Dalek rolled over to them.

"Shut it!" the Doctor shouted the same time Mac ordered it to, "Go away!"

"Winston Churchill," Mac rounded on the man, "You listen to us. The safety and the lives of your people will be in worse danger than Hitler could EVER be if you let those Daleks fight this war. They are creatures born of hate, stripped of emotion, without conscience or pity or mercy."

"They are our oldest and deadliest enemy," the Doctor told him, "You cannot trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil!" Winston huffed, "These machines are our salvation!" he fell silent, taking a single moment to breathe when a siren sounded above them, "Oh, the all-clear. We are safe. For now."

The Time Lords shook their heads, watching as Winston left with a Dalek following him, when Amy walked up to them, "It's the all-clear. Are you ok?" she eyed them.

"What does hate look like, Amy?" the Doctor answered with a question of his own.

"Hate?"

"It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it."

"If we can crack one open and show them the mutant," Mac murmured, "They'd HAVE to know that Winston didn't make them."

"But it's just a robot," Amy frowned as the two aliens headed out, "It's just a little tin pepper pot with a laser."

"Amy," Mac sighed, "Winston…he could NOT have created them, trust us, he did NOT. Which means that something made him THINK that he did."

"And our best guess is on the Daleks," the Doctor muttered, "He either thinks it, or he's claiming it to get them in here. We need to find out which it is," he turned a corner and strode right into the lab that Bracewell was standing in, a Dalek rolling out of it moments after they entered, "Alright, Prof!" he called to Bracewell as the man spun around, "The PM's been filling us in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

Mac glanced over, standing by a fire extinguisher where she'd been inspecting the equipment and shaking her head at the Doctor, it was all FAR too advanced for a human of this time period.

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell smiled.

"Not bad for a Paisley boy," Amy winked at him, swinging a small spanner around.

"Doctor," Mac called, finding a file about the Daleks, she could see it, there it was, the more personal notes on the creatures, the 'science' behind them. The Doctor moved over and took the file, sitting down as he too saw what she had…the science was all wrong. All of it. It made no sense but Winston wouldn't be able to see that, he doubted any of the other human scientists would either it was complicated but in the complication was the true errors. It made as much sense as the science behind the Adipose.

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," Bracewell smiled at Amy.

"How…exactly…did you create these 'Ironsides?'" Mac looked over at him, often the things that made sense in one's head or on paper made little when spoken out loud and THAT was how mistakes were caught, "What inspired you to even think of them?"

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

"But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?" the Doctor tossed the file onto a desk and stood, moving to stand a bit ahead of Mac as he looked at Bracewell.

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head!" he said, not giving them a firm answer, "Wonderful things! Like...let me show you," he grinned and waved them over to another desk, flipping open some more files to show them his inventions, "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"

"For whose benefit?" Mac wondered, "Human or Dalek?" she looked at him, moving as though to put a hand on his shoulder, but the Doctor could see it...a small magnet in her hand, a magnet she was holding up to his back...a magnet that was STAYING there when she pulled her hand away. His eyes widened, Bracewell was a robot, "Are these really YOUR inventions or are you covering for them?" she nearly spat the last word, casting a glance at a Dalek as it entered.

"No, no, no, no," Bracewell chuckled, seeming oblivious to the magnet stuck to his back, "These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are..." he smiled as the Dalek rolled up to him with a tray and a cup of tea on it, "Thank you...the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor," the Doctor leaned in, his voice dropping as he spoke to the man, "But whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

"Yes, Doctor!" Winston cheered as he entered, another Dalek trailing him, "Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Do you HEAR yourself?" Mac shook her head at him, growing very irritated with how he just seemed to keep repeating the same thing over and over, "Are you THAT fixated on death that you can't see that the Daleks will TURN on YOU?"

"It will mean death to everyone else too!" the Doctor agreed.

"Would you care for some tea?" the Dalek turned to them.

The Doctor lashed out and knocked the tray off the Dalek's sucker arm, "Stop this!" he shouted at it, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We seek only to help you," it stated.

"Help with what?" Mac shook her head.

"Winning the war."

The Doctor didn't believe that for a moment, "Really? Which war?"

"I do not understand."

"This war, against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor eyed it, "Ok," he turned, about to grab what looked like a crowbar when Mac held out a rather larger spanner.

"Try that," she muttered, the bigger end would do more damage without needing extra effort.

He grinned, nodding as he took it, "Ok, soldier," he spun to the Dalek, "Defend yourself!" and smashed the spanner against it.

"Doctor, what the devil!" Bracewell gasped, about to rush to stop him when Mac pulled him back.

"You do not require tea?" the Dalek asked the Doctor, but he struck it again.

"Stop it!" Bracewell struggled, but Mac's grip was firm, "Prime Minister, please!"

Mac was a little surprised she was able to hold the man back, if he was a robot, as she suspected…he would have been able to force his way out of her hold easily, but he wasn't acting as though he could. It made her suspicious that, perhaps, whatever he was he didn't KNOW he was that. If he was a robot, he didn't know that he was otherwise he'd not be held back as easily. So it was the first option then, he really thought he'd created the Daleks.

"Doctor, please, these machines are precious," Winston cried, though he kept back, not wanting to risk getting hit by the spanner.

"Come on!" the Doctor slammed the spanner into the Dalek again, "Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!" Bracewell called.

"What are you waiting for? You hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!" he beat the Dalek once more.

"Doctor, be careful!" Amy reached out to try and stop him, but the Doctor pushed her hand away.

"Please desist from striking me," the Dalek requested, "I am your soldier."

"You are my enemy!" he hit it four times, once for each word, "And I am yours! You are everything I despise! The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again, I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void! I saved the whole of reality from you! I am the Doctor! And you are the Daleks!" he gave it one firm kick and sent it rolling across the room.

"Correct," it stated as it stopped, "Review testimony."

"I am the Doctor," the Doctor's voice replayed back at them, "And you are the Daleks!"

"What testimony?" Mac frowned, shaking her head, "What do you mean, 'testimony?'"

"Transmitting testimony now," the second Dalek rolled over to the first, abandoning Winston.

"Transmit what, where?" the Doctor looked at the aliens, alarmed.

"Testimony accepted!"

The Doctor's eyes widened as the Daleks turned to them, "Get back! All of you!"

"Marines!" Winston called, "Marines! Get in here!"

Two marines ran in, their guns out, the same time that Mac turned and grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and ran forward, blasting it at the Daleks, creating a thick smog of white smoke, trying to give the Marines time to fire. The Daleks fired back, the humans ducking to the ground to try and avoid it as the Doctor pulled Mac back and down.

"Stop it!" Bracewell called as one of the random Dalek blasts managed to strike one of the marines, "Stop it, please! What are you doing?" he ran through the white smoke, Mac not letting go of the extinguisher or stopping it to give them more cover, "You are my Ironsides!"

"We are the Daleks!" one of them shouted.

"But I created you!"

"No," it fired at Bracewell's hand, leaving only a stump of metal and circuitry, revealing him to all present that he was indeed a robot, "We created you!"

"Victory!" the Daleks began to cheer, "Victory! Victory!" before they disappeared in a flash of light, Mac finally stopping the stream from the fire extinguisher.

"What just happened?" Amy breathed.

"Exactly what we warned would happen," Mac huffed, more irritated with Winston than Amy though.

"I wanted to know what they wanted," the Doctor murmured, "What their plan was. I was their plan!" he looked down a moment, realizing what that meant, before his gaze turned to Mac. He looked at her and then to where the Daleks had stood, before he pushed himself up and ran out of the room.

"Doctor!" Mac ran after him.

"Hey!" Amy shouted as she gave chase as well, the two women following him through the halls as he tried to make his way back to the TARDIS.

"'Testimony accepted!'" he was mumbling, "That's what they said! My testimony."

"Don't beat yourself up," Amy tried to reassure him, "You were right," but he just turned and unlocked the TARDIS, "What do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"

The Doctor swallowed hard before he turned to face them, "This is what _I_ do. It's dangerous, so wait here."

"What do you mean, wait here?" Mac crossed her arms, shaking her head as she moved in front of him, "You're not going alone!"

"Yeah," Amy tried to agree, not knowing that Mac had meant only that SHE would be going with him, "You can't just leave us here in the middle of the London Blitz."

"Safe as it gets around me," he murmured, looking at Mac, "I'm sorry…"

"No," she shook her head, "You're not doing this, not now," she tried to step past him, but he moved in her way, "Doctor!"

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, reaching up to her head.

"No, don't!" Mac reached to his hands just as they touched her temples, trying to pull them away, but she was too late…and pitched forward, sent into unconsciousness by the Doctor as he caught her.

He looked at Amy, who seemed stunned he'd been able to knock her out like that, and passed Mac to her, "Tell her…tell her I'm sorry," he repeated, looking at Mac with regret before he dashed into the TARDIS and disappeared.

Amy shook her head and looked at Mac, lying still in her arms, and then to Winston as the man stepped beside her to help her with Mac, "What does he expect us to do now?"

"KBO, of course," he sighed.

"What?"

"Keep buggering on!"

Amy let out a breath and looked from him to Mac, completely at a loss of what to do next.

~8~

Mac slowly woke to the sounds of Amy's voice, the ginger girl shaking her as she laid on a small sofa in Winston's office, "Mac!" Amy gasped, hugging her tightly, "Thank god you're alright. I wasn't sure what the Doctor did and…"

"He knocked me out," she muttered, NOT happy about that at all. It was a little trick, like what she'd done to Donna, like what she knew the Doctor had done to Chloe Weber when he'd described some of his 'future' adventures. Their people, being telepathic in nature, could access the minds of others, and, with a touch, could knock them out of they had to. It was easier to do to each other, to other Time Lords, but could be done to humans with some effort and focus. He'd knocked her out to keep her from going with him, "And I'll give him a right smack for it," she added, "But what's wrong?" she looked at Amy, seeing the woman looked very concerned in the light of the office…and then she realized, the lights were ON. And, given how long they'd been there, it was at least dusk outside, likely night already, "What happened?"

"We don't know," Amy said quickly, helping her sit up, "The RDF found the Dalek ship in the skies, and then just after we found it the lights turned on and wouldn't go off. They tried everything, ALL of London's lit up and we can't stop it. The Germans, according to the reports, are heading right over now. We need help Mac, I don't know what to do."

Mac let out a breath, taking it all in, "The Doctor'll be up fighting the Daleks from above…we need to fight them from below."

"But how?"

"Bracewell," she looked up at the girl, "His notes, if he started working on some of the projects he told us about, we can use his tech to stop the Daleks from here. Come on!" she pushed herself up and ran out of the room, Amy rushing after her and towards Bracewell's lab, striding right in as the man held a revolver to his head, "Don't you dare!" Mac snapped the order out, in NO mood to waste any time trying to talk him down as she moved over to him.

"My life is a lie," Bracewell lamented, "And I choose to end it."

"Then end it AFTER you've helped us," Mac just grabbed the revolver out of his hands and extracted the bullets, tossing the handful of them one way and the gun in the other, "Where are your notes?" he stared at her, "Your files on your other inventions?"

"Are they even mine?" he wondered miserably, "Those creatures...my Ironsides…they made me. I can remember things, so many things. The last war, the squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?"

Mac reached out and grabbed his shoulders, squaring him to face her, "Existential crisis LATER," she told him firmly, "Files NOW! Give me them because so help me god Edwin Bracewell, if you have something in your possession that can help us stop the Daleks illuminating London for the Germans and don't hand it over…I will dismantle you piece by piece!" she took a breath, trying to be calmer but…all of London was at stake, the future of the human race, "Now…" she looked at him, seeing him looking at her startled, but his eyes clearer than before, "You were made by the Daleks, the inventions in your head…they wanted that tech, but YOU have it. So use it against them. We need a way up there to face the Daleks, give me ONE way."

Bracewell swallowed hard, shocked out of his depression by her shouting, threats, and what she'd said about London, "What about the, um…the gravity bubbles?" he offered, turning to grab the plans and show them to her.

She eyed them only a second, already reading all the calculations and mechanics, something like this, with the Daleks involved, she was NOT going to risk using her favored 'paperclips and rubber bands,' this wouldn't be stopped by a fire extinguisher, this needed actual fire power. This needed tech to beat tech, "It's theoretically possible," she nodded, "Needs a tweak or two," before looking at Amy, "Tell Winston to prepare the spitfires!"

Amy nodded and turned to run out, trusting her.

~8~

Mac and Bracewell strode into the Map Room, Bracewell with his arm in a sling and Mac carrying a device she'd cooked up in her arms. To Amy it looked like a television screen but with a odd antenna that seemed to be made of some sort of metal she'd never seen before.

"Dalekanium," Mac answered, seeing Amy's gaze, "Extracted from Bracewell's arm," she nodded at the sling, "With a bit of help and some clever wirework, it'll act like a telly, hopefully hone in on the Daleks and their own Dalekanium and pick up a feed, let us see what's going on…" she turned a knob and smacked the side of it, pounding the top once with her fist and getting the screen to flicker on.

It was a grainy black and white image that appeared, but they could see it, the Doctor standing on a ship with some sort of button (Mac nearly groaned out loud, able to make out that it was a cookie with her eyesight) in hand, facing a slightly larger Dalek that appeared to be all white.

Mac twisted another knob and the audio kicked in, "We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race!" the White Dalek seemed to be saying.

"It's him!" Amy cheered, reaching out to give Mac a one-armed hug, "It's the Doctor!"

"Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."

"Which would be you, I'm guessing?" the Doctor eyed the White Dalek, making Mac bite her lip as she realize that the White one had listed four others, there were even more Daleks there even if they couldn't see them, "Well, you know, nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty 'Supre-eme.'"

"Don't joke Doctor," Mac nearly whined, "That's almost as bad as 'in-tru-da window!'"

"He's got company," Amy shifted, seeming to pick up what Mac had, "New company. We've got to hurry up!"

Bracewell reached over as a phone rang and answered, "Yes? Right. Right, thanks!" he quickly hung up and smiled at Winston, "Ready when you are, Prime Minister."

"Splendid!" Winston cheered.

Mac grabbed a small paper and jotted down coordinates from where the signal to the telly was coming from, seeing the small digits in the bottom corner of the screen, "Here are the coordinates for the ship," she turned and handed it to the man in charge of the spitfires.

"Go to it, Group Captain!" Winston nodded his assent, "Go to it!"

The man nodded and rushed over to his controls, putting on a headset and commanding the troops, "Broadsword to Danny Boy! Broadsword to Danny Boy! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"

"Question is," the Doctor continued, pulling their attention back, "What do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity."

"They won't fall for that," Mac mumbled, "It's a cookie for god's sake! Even _I_ wouldn't do that!"

"And yourself," the White Dalek warned.

He just shrugged, "Occupational hazard."

"Scan reveals nothing!" a second Dalek called, too off screen for them to see, "TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!"

"Alright," the Doctor huffed, taking a bite of the 'button,' "It's a Jammie Dodger, but I was promised tea!"

"Approaching target!" the group captain shouted, moments before a siren began to go off on the small screen.

"Alert!" a Dalek warned, "Unidentified projectile approaching!" the Doctor turned to use a second scanner, "Correction. Multiple projectiles!"

"What have the humans done?" the White Dalek demanded, rolling forward slightly.

"I don't know," the Doctor shook his head, though he was grinning, "But I can guess."

"Explain! Explain! Explain!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor!" a pilot called over both the speakers in the room but also on the screen, "Danny Boy to the Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over."

"Oh, Kenzie I love you!" the Doctor cheered, pressing his hands to his mouth and blowing out a kiss, "I knew it!"

Mac shook her head, "You bloody bastard," she muttered, though the words were said with more affection than the words themselves would warrant. THAT had been his reason for leaving her on Earth? Because he thought she'd work out a way to send help? Well…it did make sense, having them split up would make it easier to attack from both ends, but…the way he'd knocked her out…it was more a desperate move than one he planned she was sure of it.

So…if this had been a more hopeful backup plan than a true reason…why had he done it?

"Danny Boy to the Doctor!" the pilot called again, "Come in. Over."

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy!" he laughed, "Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up! Over!"

"Exterminate the Doctor!" the White Dalek ordered.

"No!" Mac gasped as five sets of lasers began to fire at the Doctor as he turned and rushed across the room, to a back one, off screen. Mac swallowed hard, before she pressed a knob, turning the screen off, there was no point to watch anymore if they couldn't see the Doctor. There was nothing to see at that angle anyway so all they would have gotten was Daleks gliding across the floor.

"You heard him, Group Captain!" Winston turned to the commander, "Target that dish! Send in all we've got!"

"4-4 to Danny Boy," the captain called, "Target the dish and stop that signal."

"Over," Danny Boy received, "Understood, sir. Over. You can count on us! Over."

"Oh, good luck, lads!" one of the women in the room called.

"Ok, chaps," they could hear Danny Boy speak, "Let's put London back under cover of darkness. Tally ho!" Mac winced as the room filled with the sounds of fire, but they couldn't see anything on the screen, only listen, "Cover my back, going in close!" she winced as another, much large fire sounded and knew the Daleks were firing back, "Pull out, pull out," there was a scream and the sound of an explosion, "We've lost Jubilee, sir! Over."

"Beam still active, sir," the captain called to Winston.

"Then send them in again!" he ordered.

"No, don't!" Mac argued, "The Daleks will be shielded, if they fire, they won't be able to do damage and they'll be sitting ducks!"

There was another explosion and Danny boy was back, "Flintlock's down sir, and the dish seems to be protected. Over."

"Winston, you need to have them WAIT," she looked at him.

"Hold fire!" he ordered the captain who relayed the message.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor," the pilot began, "Only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."

"The Doctor to Danny Boy," he cheered, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor, go to it. Over. Going in, wish me luck. Over."

"Direct hit, sir!" the captain shouted as there was an enormous explosion, bigger than what would have sounded if a spitfire was destroyed, making everyone cheer.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor...going in for another attack."

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."

"Is he insane!?" Mac demanded, "He's still ON the ship!"

"What about you, Doctor?" Danny Boy seemed to realize that as well.

"I'll be ok," the Doctor said, before the feed went to static.

"What's wrong?" Amy looked over, "Is that it? Is he coming back?"

Mac and Bracewell frowned as the captain called out, "No, ma'am, there's another signal interfering."

Before he could identify what that signal was, the Doctor was back, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

"Say again, sir," Danny Boy seemed just as shocked as the entire room, "Over."

But Mac was frowning as she listened.

"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."

"But sir..."

"There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!"

"He's heading back, sir," the captain informed Winston.

"Why's he doing that?" Amy frowned.

"Something went wrong," Mac murmured, "Something happened," she looked at them, "Whatever it is, for the Doctor to call off an attack on the Daleks…" she shook her head, "It's going to be big, and it's going to happen SOON."

No sooner had the words left her mouth did the Doctor race into the room and deal Bracewell a swift uppercut, knocking the man to the ground and causing the Doctor to shake out his hand in pain.

"Doctor!" Amy gasped, shocked he'd do that.

"What is it?" Mac stepped over, knowing there was a reason for that, "What happened? What's Bracewell got to do with it?"

He pointed at her for her good reasoning, "He's not just a robot," he told her, kneeling down, "He's a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"What?" Bracewell gasped, looking up at him as Mac knelt down as well.

"What sort of bomb Doctor?" Mac got right to it.

"An Oblivion Continuum," the Doctor answered, "You've got a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power inside you Professor."

"Oh no," Mac shook her head, "If that detonates Earth won't just be destroyed, it'll…well, literally be blasted back to next Tuesday," well, not quite literally, but it would end up bleeding through to another dimension.

The Doctor flashed the sonic on Bracewell's chest, having ripped the man's shirt open, "Now keep down," he shushed the man, the sonic opening up a metal chest under his skin with a circular panel that was divided in 6 in the middle of it. All the sections were blue except one that had turned yellow.

"Well?" Amy shifted.

"I dunno, I dunno, I dunno!" he shook the sonic, "Never seen one up close before! Kenzie?" he looked at her, hopeful.

"Never even built one," she shook her head, which meant that all her odds and ends were useless. One wrong move, one wrong wire cut or screw loosened and they might all die. She literally had no idea what to do for a bomb like this.

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Amy frowned.

"Not wired him up," the Doctor said quickly, "He is a bomb. Walking, talking," he imitated an explosion, "Exploding! The moment that flashes red."

"There's...a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire. Or a red one."

"Amy, please be quiet," Mac called as the Doctor stood, "That's not helping us focus…" she let out a breath and looked at the Doctor, "He talked about the war," she told him, "He's got someone's memories in a positronic brain. If he can think it…he can feel it. The brain controls everything, maybe it controls the bomb too. The more he thinks he's a bomb, the more he IS a bomb."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor cheered before he looked down at Bracewell, "Tell me about it. Bracewell! Tell me about your life!"

"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time!" Bracewell shook his head.

"You need to," Mac took his hand, "Remember how human you are and the bomb will shut off," she glanced at it to see the yellow section had gone red and the second was turning yellow.

"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but...but there was a storm."

"And your parents?" the Doctor hurried, "Come on! Tell us!"

"Good people. Kind people. They... They died. Scarlet fever."

"I'm so sorry," Mac murmured.

But the Doctor was rushing still, "What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please..." Bracewell begged, not wanting to think on it.

"How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"It hurt. It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound," he sniffled as the second section went red, the third going yellow, "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."

"Good," he nodded, "Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die... remember it! Feel it, because you're human," he looked down as the third section went red, "You're not like them. You are not like the Daleks!"

"It hurts!" Bracewell cried out, "Doctor, it hurts so much!"

"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it…"

"Doctor this isn't working," Mac warned as the fourth section went red as well, faster than the last.

"That means you're alive!" the Doctor kept trying, "They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" he held his breath…and the fifth section went red, "It's not working, I can't stop it!"

"We need a new emotion," Mac shook her head, "Pain and suffering…it's just hurting him, it's making him NOT want to be human so he won't have to feel it!"

"Hey...Paisley," Amy quickly knelt down, Mac's words striking her, "Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?" it was the only emotion she could think of that you'd WANT to feel, love.

"What?" Bracewell frowned at her.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" her eyes flickered to the last section, yellow…and STAYING yellow, "But kind of a good hurt."

"I really shouldn't talk about her."

"Oh. There's a her."

Mac smiled, seeing the section fade back to blue, "What was her name Edwin?"

"Dorabella," he smiled dreamily at that.

"Dorabella?" the Doctor laughed, relieved, "It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name."

"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy continued.

"Oh...such a smile. And her eyes...her eyes were so blue...almost violet. Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world... Dorabella..." he closed his eyes and thought of her…all the sections fading back to blue in rapid succession.

"Love conquers all," Mac mused.

"Welcome to the human race," the Doctor smiled at him and then Amy, before he looked at Winston, "You're brilliant," and to Bracewell, "You're brilliant..." then Amy, "And you..." he pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, before he stood, holding out a hand to Mac to help her up.

"What, I'm not brilliant?" Mac joked.

"You are," he smiled, "There are just no words to truly describe how much," he winked at her, "Now, gotta stop them!" he spun around to race off, "Stop the Daleks!"

"Wait!" Bracewell called, "Doctor! Wait...wait," he winced, sitting up, "It's too late. Gone. They've gone."

The Doctor froze, "No, no, no…they _can't_! They can't have got away from me again!"

Mac moved over to the RDF, checking the scans to see that the object they'd picked up before was gone.

"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear," Bracewell nodded.

"It's true Doctor," Mac agreed, "The scans show it, the Daleks are gone."

"Doctor," Amy laughed, rolling her eyes as he leaned against a pole, looking utterly defeated, "It's ok! You did it. You stopped the bomb," but he just hung his head, "Doctor?"

"I had a choice," he whispered, "And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

"Would YOU have won if they'd destroyed the Earth?" Mac countered, walking over to him.

He looked up at her as she moved in front of him, "No," he answered, "No, I wouldn't."

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend," Winston cheered, "Here, have a cigar!" he held one out.

"No..." the Doctor waved it off, looking down again…

Till Mac reached out and lifted his chin with a finger, "If you won't have a cigar, how about a hug?"

He smiled at that and nodded, "I could always do with one of those."

She laughed softly and stepped over to him, opening her arms to hug him tightly, his arms wrapping around her waist as he held her just as tight. He turned his head, burying his face in the crook of her neck and closed his eyes, savoring the moment.

~8~

"And where did YOU disappear to?" the Doctor asked as he stood outside the TARDIS, waiting for Mac to appear, Amy having stepped in moments ago.

He and Mac had taken care of the tech, gotten rid of all of it though he'd had to argue with her and argue with her and argue with her before she'd consider letting Bracewell continue despite being Dalek tech. He'd just pointed out that, if they went about trying to shut him down now, all it would do was prove to him he WASN'T human and the bomb would go off. Allowing him to continue on as though he were an ordinary man would keep the earth safe from him detonating.

She'd begrudgingly agreed.

But as they'd been heading in to meet with Amy before talking to Bracewell, she'd just sort of told him to go on and wandered off herself.

"Breen lost her love in the war," she said quietly, "He was shot down over the Channel and she's devastated. I just…wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help."

He smiled at her for that, "Very you."

"Speaking of things that are very us," she moved to lean against the TARDIS as well, "You went to face the Daleks by yourself."

"Yes…" he winced.

"Tell me why."

He sighed, scratching the side of his face, "I…thought you'd want to stay with Amy. Like you did on the Starship UK."

"No," she shook her head, knowing that was NOT the reason, "Try again."

"I wanted a second Time Lord on Earth, attack from above and below?"

"Doctor!" she huffed.

"Alright," he sighed, "I didn't want you to have to face them because I was scared. I was scared that you'd get hurt and then…then I'd be alone again and the thought of anything happening to you breaks my hearts. If you had been there with me Naery, I wouldn't have been able to focus, I'd have been too worried about you."

"I can take care of myself Theta," she reminded him.

"I know," he nodded, "But…this body," he patted his chest, "It just…reacted. I couldn't stop it, it…_I_ can't lose you."

She let out a soft breath, "I don't want to lose you either," she told him, "So next time one of us has to face Daleks…can we please do it together? To protect each other?"

He looked at her, touched she wanted to protect him too, and smiled, "Ok."

"Good," she nodded, before she stepped into the TARDIS, the Doctor following after before the box disappeared.

A/N: Aww, the Doctor wanted to protect her :') Imagine how he'll be around the Angels }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, I can say no, River is NOT their mother. The Doctor and Mac are NOT siblings or distantly related, River isn't older than them, nope, I won't say what she is to them }:) I feel like every couple has an element of complimenting to them, they like things about each other :)

I'm not sure I'd pair Teddy with Clara, just because I did that with LJ in TLC and I want to try and keep the stories as separate as I can :)

Yup, Proffy told Amy about the Master in the Star Whale episode ;)

Oh it'll be a bit of a long road for the Doctor before Mac realizes his flirting is genuine ;) More fun for us :)

That's awesome, I think those elements fit them very well :) I'm definitely trying to put a dent in my PMs, but I'm not even halfway there yet :( -sigh- I need more hours in a day lol :)

Aww thanks :) I'm glad you think the stories are all unique and different, that's always the thing I strive for and worry about most :) I do that too, watch the show and get confused why someone's not slapping the Doctor or pulling a blaster or saving people :)


	5. The Time of Angels

The Time of Angels

"Surprise!" Mac cheered as she pulled her hands off the Doctor's eyes as they stepped out of the TARDIS, putting her hands on his shoulders as she smiled, "What do you think?"

The Doctor laughed, beaming as he saw where they were, recognizing it instantly, "Ooh I love it!" he patted one of her hands and stared at the room around them, a sort of medieval church that had displays in it like a museum.

Mac had insisted on piloting them to this destination, had forbidden him from peeking at where they were going. She knew how badly he felt after they lost the Daleks, she was rather disheartened about it too, but with the Doctor being the one who had physically confronted them and had made the choice to go back to Earth to stop Bracewell instead of stop the Daleks, it was hitting him harder than her. She'd been trying to think of something that would cheer him up. She knew that his first self and his last self had both enjoyed museums, going there to see everything that the curators and other workers had gotten wrong. It amused him to no end to know the TRUE story of the history behind certain artifacts. She hadn't been sure if the current him would appreciate the place as much as the other hims had…but it seemed liked he still retained his interest in museums given how widely he was smiling.

"Oh this is brilliant!" he turned to her, "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it," she nodded.

"Oh there's something else I like far more than any old museum," he winked at her, looking right at her.

"Well you'll have to tell me what it is after," she linked her arm with his and led him on, "Go enjoy yourself first!"

He let out a small breath, he'd been trying to catch her interest, trying to get a small hint or anything off her about how she might feel about him. He was flirting, he knew it, he was intending to do it, but he was doing it more to try and gauge her reaction, to see how she'd feel about it, about him. He didn't want to flat out ask her, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable or worse, to bring it up and have her tell him she didn't care for him in that way. It was better to live in hope and to try and influence her back to him as he went. And, to be honest, he was having quite a fun time complimenting her and flirting with her, it was amusing him to see her not quite work out that THAT was what he was doing. He couldn't wait to see her reaction when she figured out he had been flirting with her the entire time.

He hoped she'd blush, he wanted to see if it would match her hair.

"Look at that!" he cheered, rushing off ahead of her as she and Amy followed, "Wrong!" he pointed at a display, and another and another and another, "Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums."

"I wasn't sure if you would," Mac admitted, "I guessed from your first and last self."

"You guessed right!" he spun around and pulled her into a hug, spinning her around and setting her down before rushing off again.

"Yeah, great," Amy remarked dryly, bored already and they'd JUST set down, "Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship, Churchill's bunker, you promised me a planet next."

"Sorry Amy," Mac apologized, "I just wanted to try and cheer him up a bit from the Daleks."

"Thoughtful of you," the Doctor smiled at her, "Very you."

"What's so great about an asteroid museum?" Amy shook her head.

"It's great because this is the BIGGEST museum in the universe Amy," Mac told her.

"The Delerium Archive," the Doctor looked around eagerly, "The final resting place of the headless monks, the…"

"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?" Amy scoffed.

"Take a guess," Mac laughed, pointing at the Doctor right as he shouted, "Wrong!" at a display.

"Very wrong!" he moved to the displays in the center of the room, in small glass cases, rushing past them and peering in, "Ooh, one of mine. Also one of mine…"

"Figure it out?" Mac smirked at Amy.

She nodded, "It's how he keeps score isn't it?"

"Got it in one," Mac nodded, though she started to frown when she saw the Doctor slow in his excited rushing about to look more intently into a display. She headed over to him, seeing what caught his eye was a rather old box…with very familiar writing etched into the top of it.

"Oh great," Amy sighed, joining them, "An old box."

"It's from one of the old starliners," the Doctor murmured, "A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?"

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."

"So?"

"You see that writing on the top," Mac tapped the class case, "Those funny squiggles?" Amy nodded, "It's not just squiggles, it's Old High Gallifreyan, one of the more ancient and ceremonial languages of the Time Lords, like…Latin is to Humans," she added, seeing Amy looked a bit confused, "I wonder who wrote it," she frowned at it, "It wasn't us, that's not our handwriting…" she tilted her head, "There's no one else that would know that language unless we…taught it to them?" she shook her head, "But why would we?"

"There were days," the Doctor whispered, still just staring at the words, "There were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods."

Amy started to grin at that, "What does it say?"

The Doctor just rubbed his head, irritated, "Hello, sweetie."

Mac looked over at him, seeing him about to pull out the sonic, "No," she reached out and put her hand on it, "You do that, you'll end up setting off the alarm."

"But we need to get the box and…"

"I know," she nodded, "Just…let me at least take out the cameras first and then we can work out a way to keep the alarms off. I know how much you love the alarms," she joked, "But this…" she glanced at the box, "It's too important."

He sighed but nodded, "Go on, I'll try to contain myself till then."

"Amy?" Mac looked at her pointedly.

Amy smirked, "Let me guess, watch the kid?"

"Exactly," she tapped her nose and pointed at Amy.

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted at that.

Mac shook her head and laughed, heading over to the middle of the room and looking around. There were three cameras in the room that she could see, two were set on either end of it, and facing more towards their doors and the surrounding exhibits. There was one just ahead of them, over another archway and facing the display case. She bit her lip, glancing around before she grinned, "Got it," she whispered to herself.

She ran over to one of the suits of armor that was just under the camera, just out of sight and pulled the lance from it, She set it on the ground and knelt at its tip, pulling out her flat mirror and some string, quickly tying the mirror to the end of it. She set it back in the suit's hand and pushed the display, on a wheeled base, turning it so the mirror was facing the camera, it would only buy them minutes before those in control of the cameras realized it wasn't a computer glitch but something in the room.

"Ok," she ran back, squatting down to look intently at the display case, "I see it," she nodded, seeing a pressure button in the corner of the display. The display in the museum was set up with four glass plates on each case, hinged in the middle so that they could be open from one side, the lines of the glass were very fine, the hinges very small, if she hadn't been looking, she'd have thought they were just one piece of glass entirely. If she lifted the one panel, the pressure button would release and the alarms would go off.

She moved to the corner and pulled out her pocket knife, carefully slipping the knife just under the crack of the glass at the same time that she started to lift the glass up, applying the same pressure and weight of the glass as she could on the button, "Doctor…get it out, quickly," she told him.

The Doctor rushed forward and pulled the glass up entirely, grabbing the box and tossing it to Amy before he began to slowly lower the glass back down till Mac could take hold of it. He watched as she looked intently at the glass and her knife, lowering the glass and pulling her knife back with a wide grin.

"And THAT," she stood, "Is how you steal things," she beamed.

The Doctor just shook his head before he stepped back and made a deep, though playful bow, his arms out before him as he 'worshiped' her ability, "That was amazing," he told her, "You're amazing."

She laughed, "Suppose you've rubbed off on me."

"Not quite yet," he remarked with a saucy smirk on his face.

"More than you know," she shook her head, his remark completely going over her head, before she glanced at the camera, "We've got moments, Doctor."

He nodded, "Amy?" and held out his hands for her to toss him the box back before they turned and rushed over to the TARDIS, getting in quickly and closing the doors, moving to get the box to disappear…right when the alarms sounded, though they were already gone by the time the guards ran in.

"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked, joining them at the console as Mac worked to hook the box into the console, the Doctor piloting them somewhere safe and calm to get everything set so he could help.

"Cos someone on a spaceship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract my attention," the Doctor told her, "Kenzie, have you got it working?"

"Almost," she nodded, jumping back when a wire she'd attacked sparked, but an image started to play on the monitor, a grainy black and white image, "River…" she breathed, seeing the woman step out of a door, pulling down her sunglasses to wink at the camera, before the footage cut to her standing with her back to them, at a door or a wall, whatever it was, it was a dead end.

"The party's over, Dr. Song," a man was saying, though they couldn't see him at the bottom of the screen, "Yet still you're onboard."

"Sorry, Alistair," River smirked as she turned to face him, "I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution."

The Doctor looked over as Mac tensed at the threat, but River seemed perfectly at ease as she merely looked at her watch, "Triple-seven, five slash, three, four, nine by ten, zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

The Time Lords looked at each other a moment, "I'll get the corridor," Mac volunteered as she moved to her side of the console, the doctor nodding and starting on his side with the other part of the message.

"What was that, what did she say?" Amy shook her head as they got to work.

"Coordinates!" the Doctor called, locking them in.

"Like I said on the dance floor," River continued, "You might want to find something to hang on to!"

The Time Lords rushed over when they heard an explosion on the monitor to see that the door behind River had blown open and was sucking her out into space as she blew a kiss at the camera. Mac ran back to her side and pulled a lever, activating the air corridor as the Doctor pulled a lever of his own to get the TARDIS materialized where River was. He hurried over to the doors and opened them, holding out a hand to the woman to pull her in…the two of them ending up on the ground from the force of the flying.

"Doctor?" Amy blinked, startled.

"River?" the Doctor stared at the woman.

Mac ran over, "River are you alright?" she helped the girl up, her hands on River's shoulders as she looked her over, "Did you hurt anything? Any bruises? Are you hurt?"

"Oh thanks," the Doctor rolled his eyes, still lying on the ground, "Worry about HER."

"You're a Time Lord," she remarked, "You're made of tougher stuff."

"I'm stronger than I look Mackenzie," River hugged Mac in reasurance, giving her an extra squeeze for her concern, she loved that about Mac, how motherly she was to everyone when they were hurt.

"You're SURE you're ok?"

"I'm fine," River laughed, "But I'll tell you, I'll be very cross if that ship gets away!" she nodded out the doors before hurrying to the console, tugging her red heels off in the process.

Mac glanced down at the Doctor, "Getting up any time soon Doctor?"

"Depends," he held out a hand to her for help. She smiled and reached down to help him up when, "Oops…" he tugged her down, making her fall down nearly on top of him, "Oh look at that, I must have tripped."

"You were lying down," Mac countered as his arms wound around her, the man just looking at her, "Not even you could trip lying down."

"You doubt my skills," he winked at her with a grin.

"A little help children!" River called from the console, "They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them!"

Mac nodded and pulled herself up, bringing the Doctor up with her, the two of them rushing up to the console to help her, "Don't worry," Mac reassured her, "We'll catch up."

"Stay on them," River ordered as they managed to do that.

"I'm trying!" the Doctor moved to his end of the console, looking over as River seemed to take two panels between him and Mac on one side, splitting the controls into 3 sections instead of 2.

"Doctor hit the stabilizers!" Mac shouted as the console started to spark.

"There aren't any stabilizers!"

"The blue switches!" River pointed at a set.

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue."

"Yes, they're blue. They're the blue stabilizers!" River leaned forward and pushed the blue buttons, leveling out the ship, calming her down, "See?"

"Yeah, well," he huffed, "It's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"How did you know that?" Mac smiled at River at the same time Amy turned to the Doctor to ask, "Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?"

"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" he plopped down sulkily onto the jump seat, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Ok," River brought the monitor around to Mac, her red heels dangling from the handle of it, "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside."

"Parked us?" the Doctor hopped up, "We haven't landed!"

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"The wheezing noise," Mac rolled her eyes.

"You know, the..." the Doctor began, mimicking the 'wheezing' that the TARDIS always made.

"It's not supposed to make that noise," River remarked, "You leave the brakes on."

"Actually it's just the sound of time and space being displaced by the TARDIS materialization," Mac told her, "It's SUPPOSED to make the noise…just not quite as loudly."

"Ha!" the Doctor pointed at River triumphantly, "And it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise almost as much as I love Kenzie's voice," he turned on his heel to head for the doors, "Come along, Pond, let's have a look."

"Environment checks!" both Mac and River called, trying to stop him.

"Oh, yes, sorry!" he spun around, though he continued to walk backwards towards the doors, "Quite right. Environment checks…" and then stuck his head out of the doors, "Nice out."

River shook her head and turned to Mac, knowing SHE would listen to her at least, "We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest..."

"We're on Alfava Metraxis," the Doctor cut in, closing the doors as he pulled himself back in, "The seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and..." he peeked his head out once more for a moment before coming in again, "Chances of rain later."

River rolled her eyes at that, exasperated, as though she'd seen that far too many times before, "Don't ever do that," Mac told her and Amy, "Ever. Time Lords have a respiratory bypass system, helps us breathe, can't say the same for you both. For all we know it could have been acid raining out there."

"Then why does he do that?" Amy frowned.

"He thinks it makes him look hot."

River grimaced at that but the Doctor was smiling widely as he headed up the console to them, "Hot eh?"

"Yes," she nodded, "YOU think it makes you hot."

"I never said the word hot," he wiggled a finger at her playfully, "Freudian slip, Kenzie?"

"Oh no," Mac laughed, shaking her head, "I don't think you're hot."

"No?" he challenged, "Then what am I? Dashing? Handsome? Debonair?"

"Funny," Mac answered, "Amelia had it in one."

He smiled though, "Funny's good, you like funny."

"I like YOU."

"So you admit it!" he pointed at her triumphantly.

"Doctor," Mac laughed, "Yes, I admit you're funny."

"You admit you like me," he poked her, "Which is just as well, I love you."

Mac shook her head and patted his cheek, "I'm glad you like having me around."

River nearly laughed as she watched the two of them going, she was used to this, of course, the two of them bickering in this light-hearted fashion, but she wasn't quite used to seeing Mac and the Doctor like this, with Mac so oblivious to the Doctor's so obvious flirting. She really only had one other memory of the girl acting like that. They must be very early days then.

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked her quietly, or what seemed to be an attempt at quiet, but the Time Lords heard her and looked over.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best," River smirked.

The Doctor stared to grin, "Well, yeah."

"It's a shame you were busy that day," River sighed, "Mackenzie made me read the manual," she told them, "And then quizzed me on it. Homeschooling I suppose," she joked, picking up her shoes, "Right then, why did they land here?" she turned to head for the doors.

"They didn't land River," Mac informed her.

"Sorry?" River turned to blink at her.

"You should've checked the Home Box," the Doctor smirked, "It crashed," he moved down the steps and followed River to the doors, waiting till she'd stepped outside before he closed the doors behind her and locked them, rushing back to the console to hear Amy speaking to Mac.

"Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

"Sometimes Amy, people have to get creative to get the Doctor's attention," Mac told her, "Especially when he doesn't answer his phone."

"Not true," the Doctor clicked a switch, starting to move around the controls, "You get my attention instantly," he winked at Mac, making her roll her eyes.

"Ok, but who IS she?" Amy shook her head.

"It's a long story and we don't know most of it. Off we go!"

"Doctor what are you doing?" Mac frowned as he began to set more controls, leaving her to try and unset them as she followed him around the console.

"Leaving," he turned a knob, only for Mac to turn it back, "Or trying to," he sighed, before turning to Mac, "Kenzie she got where she wants to go, can't we go where we want to go?"

"I actually AM where I want to be," she remarked, "I want to know what she was chasing that was so important she nearly died jumping out of a spaceship."

"But…but…we promised Amy a planet," he tried to argue.

Mac smirked, "What do you call that outside the doors?" she countered.

"Are you trying to run away Doctor?" Amy frowned.

"Yes," he answered bluntly.

"Why?"

"Cos she's the future, our future, mine and Kenzie's."

"Can you run away from that?"

"We can run away from anything we like as long as we're together. Time is not the boss of us."

"But the laws of time are," Mac countered.

"Hang on," Amy blinked as Mac's words caught up to her, "That a planet out there…"

The Doctor winced, "Yes…"

"You promised me a planet," she smirked, "Five minutes?"

"Please Doctor?" Mac asked as he hesitated.

He sighed, but smiled lightly at Mac, "Anything for you dear," he took a breath, "Ok, five minutes!"

"Yes!" Amy cheered, rushing for the doors.

"Amy don't run off!" Mac shouted, hurrying after her, not wanting her to step out into a hole or a puddle or anything.

"But that's all!" the Doctor went after the two of them, "Cos I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!"

They stepped out of the TARDIS to find themselves on a beach before a rather large stone wall, like a cliffside, or a very large stone structure. There was the ship they'd been chasing sticking out from the top of it, debris from it scattered around, all of it burning, some of it drifting out to sea.

"What caused it to crash?" River inquired as they joined her, staring up at the ship, the woman holding a sort of scanner in her hand, "Not me."

"Nah," the Doctor agreed, "The airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it."

"The Home Box said that the warp engines phase-shifted," Mac murmured, "No one survived."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage," River frowned, before shrugging, "I _did_ warn them."

"About what?" the Doctor looked at her.

River didn't answer though, just looked at her scanner, "Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."

Amy glanced between the two Time Lords and then River, "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she nudged the Doctor.

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song," he offered quickly.

"Ah," River spun around, beaming, "I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" the Doctor winced at that, not having meant to slip up like that, Mac just patted him on the shoulder for it, "How exciting!"

"Congratulations," Mac laughed.

"Love the spoilers!" River winked at the Doctor, before she looked back down at her scanner.

"Yeah," Amy leaned over to whisper to them, "But who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum!"

The Doctor turned and walked off a few feet, not sure how much he should reveal to the woman.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum," River began, making Mac look at her, Amy had been speaking quietly and too far away from the woman for her to really be able to hear her that clearly. Apparently River had rather good hearing for a human, "The Home Box of category four starliner and, sooner or later, him. It's how he keeps score."

"I know," Amy laughed.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

The Doctor gave a sarcastic laugh from behind them as he rejoined them, "I'm nobody's taxi service!" he huffed, pointing at River as she looked at him, amused, "I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."

"I actually think you will," River remarked, her words softer than the joking tone they'd held before, "Give it a few more trips and I think you'll be flying like a bat out of hell to catch me," she ended on a challenging note, "And you're wrong about another thing."

"What?" the Doctor frowned, looking at River intently, trying to work out why she thought she was so important to him and Mac in the future that they'd drop everything and race to her side…but then again, they hadn't had a clue who she was and they'd still gone to the Library to help her.

"There's one survivor Mackenzie," she smiled, looking back at the Doctor, "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die," she smirked, seeing a spark in his eye at that, a curiosity, "Now he's listening!" she spun around and held up her device, speaking into it as she walked off, "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal," she spun around, holding up her scanner, "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor rolled his eyes but pulled out his sonic and flashed it at River, the woman dropping into a small curtsy before she turned to send out the signal.

"Ooh, Doctor!" Amy teased, "You soniced her!"

Mac glanced at Amy and back at River, she knew what Amy was trying to get at, what she was teasing the Doctor about but…something about it just seemed wrong. The River she knew, the one from the Library and even here, had given no indication that anything like THAT was in play, she actually seemed rather disgusted by implications of the sort. Hearing Amy tease about that, she almost wished River was closer than she was to see the woman's reaction to it.

"We have a minute," River headed over, "Shall we?" and pulled out her TARDIS journal, a bit less worn than in the Library, flipping through it, "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Amy frowned.

"Stay away from it," the Doctor warned.

"What is it though?"

"It's her diary Amy," Mac answered.

"OUR diary," River corrected, "You gave it to me."

"Her past," the Doctor sighed, "Our future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

They looked over when a whoosh noise reached them to see four spirals of sand and dust swirl up from the ground as four soldiers in desert camouflage appeared within them. One of them, an older man, spotted River and headed over to her, "You promised me an army, Dr. Song."

"No," she smirked, "I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor," she gestured at him as he gave a lighthearted salute, "And Agent Mackenzie, of UNIT, a Time Lady as well."

"Father Octavian, sir," the man shook the Doctor's hand, "Agent Mackenzie," he frowned at her, "I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with you than the Doctor."

Mac shrugged but River stepped over and put a hand on Mac's shoulder, "She could build a weapon out of a pen and a toothpick," she informed the man, "I've seen her do it."

Octavian appeared quite impressed with that, "Is that so?"

Mac frowned, trying to work out how when she got it, "Hollowed out pen and a sharp object in side it, like a dart shooter that tribes in the rainforest use. Good to know," she smiled at River, "Thanks."

"You…didn't make that yet, did you?" River realized, wincing as the Doctor had, not having meant to let THAT one slip either.

"Not yet, no," Mac patted her hand, reassuring her it was ok.

"Father Octavian?" the Doctor eyed him a moment.

"Yes sir," he nodded, "Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Dr. Song explained what we're dealing with?"

They looked at River, which was all the evidence that no, she hadn't yet. River smiled apologetically, "What do you know of the Weeping Angels?" she asked the Time Lords…

The way their expressions tensed was answer enough.

~8~

That night, the small trio was walking through the camp that Octavian and his men had set up on the beach, a transport ship set down for River to mover her equipment into as the man explained the mission, "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," he held up a small scanner much like River's, an information pad showing the blueprints of some sort of structure, "Behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good," the Doctor tensed.

"Good, sir?"

"He's worried about the Catacombs," Mac told him, placing a reassuring hand on the Doctor's arm.

"Probably dark ones," the Doctor muttered, "Dark catacombs, great…"

"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead," Octavian offered.

"You can stop any time you like."

"Father Octavian?" a soldier called.

"Excuse me," Octavian bowed his head a moment, the Doctor waving him off as he left.

The Doctor turned when he felt Mac's hand slide off his to see she'd moved over to a table that had been set up with some odds and ends and equipment for the mission, inspecting them. He smiled at that and headed over, scanning the devices to ensure they were working.

"You're letting people call you 'sir,'" Amy remarked, moving to sit on the end of the table, already knowing that Mac was used to people calling her 'ma'am' given her time in UNIT, "You never do that so, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting," he turned to her, "You're still here. Which part of 'wait in the TARDIS till we tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

"Ooh, are you all Mr. Grumpy Face today?" Amy teased.

"Amy this is actually very serious," Mac told her, "Weeping Angels are incredibly deadly and we're about to go looking for one in the dark, where they're at their most powerful. They're asking us to climb in there with a handful of torches and the Doctor's trusty sonic, through radiation, in a ticking time bomb of a ship…and do something to stop it, when NOTHING can be done. Do you understand now?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded, "But I DO have one question."

"What?"

Amy just smirked at the Doctor, "Is River Song your wife? Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel, boy!' She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

"No Amy, she won't be," he told her.

Amy blinked at that, a little startled by how firm he sounded, "But you said you don't know who she is in your future. She could be your wife."

"I had only one wife in my past Amy," he sighed, "And she's dead. There will only be one wife in my future…and it's not River Song."

Amy, despite knowing that the Doctor likely wasn't talking about her, if he even knew who he was talking about and it wasn't just one of those general statements of the future, felt herself blushing, felt her heart rate pick up and thump in her chest as the thought crossed her mind that…what if it was HER? If not River…then it could be anyone!

"Doctor?" River called from the transport unit, "Mackenzie? Father Octavian!" the three that she called started to head for the transport, Amy going with them.

"Why do they call him Father?" she wondered.

"The church joined with the army in the future," Mac shrugged, "Bishop became like a general, the clerics his soldiers."

They stepped into the transport unit to see River standing before a large screen in the back wall that had an image of the Angel on it, its back to them, hands over its eyes, like security footage but playing what appeared to be only 4 seconds over and over given the counter in the corner of the screen.

"What do you think?" River glanced back at them, "It's from the security cameras in the _Byzantium_ vault. I ripped it when I was onboard. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

"Yeah, it's an Angel," the Doctor nodded as he got close to the screen and eyed the footage, "Hands covering its face…"

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian blinked at him, startled.

"I've only read about them," Mac shook her head, "But the Doctor has."

"Once," he nodded, "On Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

"It's just a statue," Amy scoffed, not seeing what the big deal was about all of this.

"It's a statue when you see it," River warned.

"Where did it come from?" the Doctor frowned.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."

"I don't think it's been dormant River," Mac murmured, "It's in its nature to attack and feed unless it needs something from those around them…I think it's waiting for something."

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy asked.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," River shrugged, "So legend has it."

"It's a fact actually," Mac remarked, "It's called a quantum lock, to freeze into some sort of substance, like rock, when in the sight of another living thing. It's a defense mechanism."

"What, being a rock?" Amy shook her head.

"Being a rock...until you turn your back," the Doctor sighed, moving to head out of the unit, the others following him as he stared up at the cliff, "The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing."

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian inquired, though he doubted it would be.

"A ship like that?" Mac shook her head, "It would feed an Angel for centuries."

The Doctor nodded, agreeing, "The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

"The Aplans," River answered, looking at her scanner, "The indigenous life-form. They died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was terraformed," Octavian added, "Currently there are six billion human colonists."

The Doctor gave a small chuckle at that, "You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! We'll never get done saving you."

"That's probably a good thing," Mac nudged him, "YOU, in retirement? Now that's a terrifying thought. I can only imagine what you'd get up to."

"I can imagine it quite clearly," he countered, sticking his nose up, "You and I, on a beach, sipping banana daiquiris…"

"Oh no," Mac laughed, seeming to miss that he saw her being there beside him through to his 'retirement,' "The day you retire is the day I go back to UNIT. I need some sort of excitement in my life now."

He smiled, "Well then, at the risk of losing you to the Brig, I shan't ever retire."

Mac's smile faded just a little at that, this Doctor…he seemed rather adamant about NOT thinking of just how long he had left before time caught up to this particular body of his. It was like…if he didn't think about it, then it wasn't real, if he stopped, if he stopped running for even a moment, time would catch up to him. She swallowed hard, promising herself that she would make this the best time of his life then, as much as she could, to make up for the hell she'd made the last few years of his last life.

"Sir," Octavian cut in, serious, "If there is a clear and present danger to the local population..."

"Oh, there is," the Doctor nodded, "Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

"Verger," Octavian immediately turned to his men, "How we doing with those explosives? Dr Song, with me."

"Two minutes," River waved him on as he turned to head off to his men, "Sweetie, I need your sonic," River turned to walk off in her own direction.

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes at that, realizing she meant HE was sweetie. He was really looking forward to getting to the point where River first called him that so he could dissuade her from calling him that in her future. That shouldn't be too much of a change to the timelines to matter much. Mac though, just shook her head at his grumblings, he was hearing the word and not the intonation behind it. River seemed like she was just calling him a name…like…like it was just something you called someone, similar to how she'd called Mandy and Amy 'sweetie' when they were children.

…and the Doctor WAS very much like a child, perhaps that was it?

"Amy," Mac turned to her, "Why don't you go with Octavian?" she suggested, "We'll need a woman around to keep the men in line," she winked and nudged her.

Amy grinned, even though they were clerics and likely dedicated to the church…there was nothing wrong with looking, was there? And she DID love a man in uniform, any sort of military uniform really, "You can count on me," she gave Mac a salute and started to head off, "What about you?"

Mac shrugged, "I'm going to go see if there are any readings on River's equipment, see if there's not something there lying around that could help."

Amy shook her head at that but turned to go off across the beach towards the men while Mac entered the transport unit…only to stop short when she spotted that the Angel on the footage had lowered its hands from its face. She stepped back and glanced out the unit's door, "River…is this the only clip of the Angel that you've got?"

"Yes," River called back from where she and the Doctor were going through equipment, "Just the four seconds."

"Right, thanks!" she took a breath and stepped back in…the Angel was facing forward now, its hands still down.

She reached over and grabbed the remote off a nearby table, trying to turn the footage off, but it wasn't stopping. She stepped closer, glancing for a split second at the time code, the same as before, before she looked up, expecting to see the Angel had moved again…but not expecting its face to be right against the screen.

"Ok, time to leave," she backed up to the door, wincing as she realized it was closed, before she reached for it, but it wouldn't open. She chanced a glance at the lock, to see it had somehow locked and she couldn't risk focusing the amount of time she'd need on breaking it open on it by looking away from the footage for when she glanced back…the Angel's mouth was open, baring its fangs.

She moved forward to grab the remote once more, jumping back when a light flickered and suddenly there was a hologram of the Angel projected into the middle of the room.

"Doctor!" she shouted, not daring to look away or move back, "Could I get a little help? The Angel's IN the room!"

"Kenzie!" she could hear the Doctor shouting from outside before there was a banging on the door, "Are you alright? What's happening?"

"Well…the Angel's trying to project itself out of the television screen," she remarked, trying to remain calm as she looked it dead in the eyes, keeping it from moving as she slowly reached into her pocket, shifting around for something.

"Don't take your eyes off it!" he cried, "t can't move if you're looking. Don't blink, Kenzie, please don't blink!"

"Doctor I'm well aware of how to stop a Weeping Angel," she shouted back, "Stop using your mouth and start using your brain. Work out how to open the doors and I'll deal with the Angel."

"What about the screen?" River offered, clearly having run there with the Doctor, "Can you turn it off?"

"I tried," she didn't dare shake her head, but she tried it again, "It keeps switching on."

"It's the Angel," the Doctor called to her.

"How?" she frowned, "It's a recording of it…"

"No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel. Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking…" he fell silent for a moment as her hand clasped around just the object she needed when he shouted again, sounding more frantic, "Not the eyes! Kenzie, look anywhere but don't look at the eyes."

"Why not?" she frowned, realizing she'd been doing just that. Listening to him, she pulled the object out of her pocket, a mirror, a small compact one that was FAR too pink for her liking. She had a habit of plucking the mirrors out of the hands of the younger interns at UNIT when they were focusing more on powdering their noses than learning what UNIT was about…she had about 10 in her pockets, she just never gave them back. She held the mirror up at the Angel, so it would see its own reflection staring at it, and looked away, "What was that about the images?"

"Whatever holds the image of an angel, is an angel," River repeated.

"That's what I thought," she murmured, looking back at the Angel to see it frozen for now, and leaned slightly over to see the counter on the screen, waiting till it got to the moment of looping and froze the screen on the blip just between it, turning the image and the Angel to static. The Angel disappeared in the blink of an eye and the doors flew open…the Doctor half toppling in as he'd been pushing and pounding against it the entire time.

"Kenzie!" he gasped, rushing up to her and hugging her tightly, so relieved she was ok, as River ran to the screen and unplugged it, just to be safe, "How did you do that?" he pulled away, his hands on either side of her face, looking at her for any sign of injury, however that might be possible.

"Static's not an image of anything," she shrugged, "I paused the feed on the blip of the loop restating."

"You are bloody brilliant!" he hugged her again, tighter than before, "Never do that to me again," he whispered in her ear, "You nearly gave me a hearts attack."

"At least I didn't knock you out," she countered playfully, pulling away.

"That was amazing Mackenzie," River stepped over and hugged her tightly as well, "It was really here though? That was the Angel?"

"No," she shook her head, "It was just a projection of it. I don't think it's dormant any longer."

"Well that makes sense," the Doctor remarked, smiling at Mac, "The sight of you would be enough to bring anyone back to life."

She laughed, "And the sight of you in the mornings would be enough to kill them dead," she joked.

The Doctor opened his mouth to counter when he winced, an explosion going off just outside the unit and ran to the door to hear a cleric shouting, "It's gone positive!"

"Doctor!" Octavian shouted as he jogged over with Amy, "Agent Mackenzie, we're through!"

"Ok," the Doctor sighed, "Now it starts," before taking a breath and heading out, River following him.

Amy looked over to see Mac rubbing her right eye, "You ok?"

"Yeah," Mac looked at her, smiling, though it was strained, "Just had a little something in my eye."

Amy nodded and moved after the Doctor and River as Mac frowned, standing there a moment longer, glancing back at the screen before she too left after them.

~8~

Mac laughed lightly at the slight sulk in the Doctor's expression as he climbed down a rope ladder and into the main chamber of the Aplan structure. He was the last one down and he was rather cross about it. She and Amy had been the first ones down as they were both wearing skirts and dresses, even though they knew the Clerics were all 'men of god' it made them all feel better to go first, River had gone down as the very first one to assuage the Doctor that it would be fine as Octavian ordered him to be the last one down to 'protect the asset' that was the Time Lord. He only ordered the Doctor down last and not Mac as he hadn't known as much about the woman as he did the Doctor and…given the way he'd seen the man staring and flirting with the Time Lady, he hadn't fully trusted that the Doctor wouldn't keep his eyes down as the girl descended either.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor asked as they tried to flash some torches around but it didn't really help, Mac's glow sticks would only go so far as well.

"Grav globe," Octavian held out a hand and one of the soldiers handed him one.

"Where are we?" Amy wondered, looking around at the darkness, unable to see much of anything though, "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan mortarium," River answered, "Sometimes called a maze of the dead."

"And what's that?"

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone," the Doctor began before he kicked the grav globe up into the air where it spun and lit up, floating above them and casting light all over the cavern…revealing they were surrounded by nothing but stone statues and steps, "The perfect hiding place."

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian sighed.

"You think?" Mac shook her head, this was going to be nearly impossible, "We're trying to find a stone angel among stone statues."

"A needle in a haystack," River murmured.

"A needle that looks like hay," the Doctor corrected, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. A…" he fell silent as Mac made the 'stop talking' motion and sighed, "No, yours was fine."

"Right," Octavian nodded, turning to his men, "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question," he looked at the Time Lords, "How do we fight it?"

"We have no idea," Mac told him honestly, before stepping off with her penlight and looking around, the Doctor and Amy going with her though Octavian grabbed River by the arm to hold her back a moment.

Mac looked around at a few statues as the Doctor stepped past her with Amy, the human staring up in awe at the sheer number of levels above them, statues standing at every turn. Mac squinted at one, swearing she could almost make out a face or facial features by one, when she started blinking, her eye hurting. She reached up to rub the corner of it and frowned when she saw a small piece of gray grit there. She rubbed her eye again…and even more grit fell from her eye like a small waterfall. She shook her head and crouched down…but the grit was gone.

"You alright Mackenzie?" River asked as she came up behind her.

Mac stared at the floor of the cavern a moment longer before she nodded and stood, "I'm fine," she nodded, stepping further into the room with the Doctor as River watched her go.

Amy glanced over, spotting River standing there and subtly made her way over, "So, what's a maze of the dead?"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds," River waved her off, "It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls," Amy gave her a look, "Ok, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm," she pulled out a syringe as Amy held out her arm, "This won't hurt a bit," she smiled, before sticking Amy with it, making her give a small shout of pain, "There, you see," she smirked, "I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship," she rubbed Amy's arm, knowing that the Doctor and Mac wouldn't need it, being Time Lords, they were made of stronger stuff as Mac had said.

"So what's he like?" Amy asked River quietly, "In the future, I mean. The Doctor. Cos you know him in the future, don't you?"

River frowned as she glanced at her, "And Mackenzie," she nodded, "They're just…" she shook her head, unable to really describe it.

"Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

"Yes, we are!" she called suddenly.

"Yes you are what?" Mac called back, absently looking up at the statues above them as the Doctor tried to get a reading on River's scanner.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening, I'm busy," the Doctor defended.

"Ah," River nodded, more inclined to believe that if it had come from Mac instead, "The other way up."

The Doctor winced and turned the device upside down, "Yeah."

"You're so his wife," Amy murmured.

River shook her head at that, "Oh don't say that, please don't say that."

"What, you're not?" Amy looked at her, trying her very best NOT to sound too hopeful about that, "YOU?"

"No," River nearly blanched at it, "God no. No. I'M not his 'wife.'"

Amy smiled at that, not seeing River cast a glance at Mac as she spoke. River glanced back at Amy, seeing the rather pleased look on the girl's face and opened her mouth to say something more, when the sound of gunfire began to go off behind them. The four of them quickly turned and ran from the room, back to the main chamber where a young man, one of the clerics, had fired at a statue.

"Sorry," the boy swallowed, "Sorry."

"Are you alright?" Mac moved over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, concerned, "Hey, look at me," she leaned over a bit to catch his eye, "Are you ok?"

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, though he was shaking.

"You don't look it," she remarked, "So let's try this again without the lying, yeah?"

The boy sighed, "I just thought...I thought it looked at me."

Mac looked back at the statue in question, slowly moving over to it to look more closely at it as Octavian strode forward, "We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?!"

"No, sir," the boy winced.

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor and Agent Mackenzie, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"Oh lay off him," Mac stormed back over, "He's just scared!" she shot Octavian a glare before smiling at the boy comfortingly, "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Bob, ma'am," he answered quietly.

"Ah, that's a great name," the Doctor smiled, walking over to help, "I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian informed them, "We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church."

"Sacred Bob," the Doctor nodded, "But Kenzie was right, as she always is," he winked at her, "It's more like Scared Bob now, though yeah?"

Bob nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron."

"Which makes you," Mac nudged Bob, "A very clever young man."

"Carry on," the Doctor gave him a small salute.

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian took command, turning to Bob, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

Amy looked up at the path they'd be taking, "Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse? There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River shook her head.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once," the Doctor remarked.

"How did THAT turn out?" Mac teased.

"Wonderfully, I'll have you know," he stuck out his tongue at her, "You know what they say, two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" Amy guessed.

"I think he means literally," Mac said, "Aplans have two heads."

"That book…" the Doctor murmured, glancing at River, "The very end, what did it say?"

"Hang on," River pulled the book out from her pack.

"Read it to us."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves?" River began, "What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"

"Can I see that?" Mac held out a hand for the book as River handed it over, "There's something about all this that just keeps niggling me."

~8~

"Are we there yet?" Amy nearly moaned a few hours later as they went up what felt like the hundredth staircase, "It's a hell of a climb."

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," River told her, "Only two levels to go."

"Just think Amy," Mac smiled, "Your legs will look amazing after this."

"All of ours will," River joked.

"Impossible," the Doctor waved them off, "Your legs are already perfect Kenzie."

River raised an eyebrow at that, "You naughty boy, staring at a woman's legs."

The Doctor started to sputter at that, "What?! No, no, I wasn't…I didn't…I haven't…" before he pouted, "Shut up," and spun around, making the women laugh.

"You know, we should visit the Aplans one day," Mac offered, trying to help him change the subject, "I bet they're lovely company. Two heads mean twice as much conversation."

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy frowned.

"So's Winston Churchill," Mac reminded her, "And we just met him."

"Virginia Woolf as well," the Doctor nodded, "I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

Mac frowned, something about that two heads business striking her…they KEPT bringing it up, her and the Doctor, in ways that almost made no sense, like with the Doctor. Talking about bowling and then snogging…it was odd, it was like their subconscious was trying to tell them something.

"Doctor, there's something…" River began, clearly feeling it too, "I don't know what it is..."

"Us as well," Mac nodded.

"Yeah, something wrong," the Doctor agreed, "Don't know what it is yet either, working on it. Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's alright, Doctor," Octavian muttered as they reached a narrow passage that was lined with statues on one side, "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way," he pointed ahead.

"Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy shrugged, "The divorces must have been messy."

"Messy…" Mac stopped suddenly, as did River and the Doctor, all three of their minds going right where their conscious thought didn't want to go. Messy…messy divorces, messy deaths, messy funerals and burials and monuments and…monuments for a two headed species…that only had one head…

"Oh!" the Doctor breathed, staring at a statue.

"What's wrong?" Amy blinked.

"Oh," River stared at the Time Lords, seeing it too.

"Right," Mac nodded.

"How could we not notice that?!"

"I'd guess a low level perception filter."

"Or maybe we're thick," the Doctor huffed, irritated he'd been tricked like that.

"What's wrong?" Octavian stiffened, expecting the worst.

"Nobody move," the Doctor warned, "Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. We've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans have two heads but the statues…" Mac shown her light on one…on the SINGLE head of it.

"Everyone, over there," the Doctor ordered them to the back of the passage, to a small corner that had no statues behind it or to the side of it, just by a back doorway, "Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak," everyone rushed to do that, gathering there as the Doctor stood ahead of them, "Ok, I want you all to switch off your torches."

"Sir?" Octavian blinked.

"Just do it."

"Not exactly your most solid plan Doctor," Mac murmured as she turned hers off as the other did, till it was just the Doctor's left.

"I know," he swallowed hard, "Ok, I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River whispered.

The Doctor reached over and took Mac's hand in his free one, "No," he admitted, squeezing her hand as he turned his torch off and back on instantly…the statues had moved, all of them turned to face them, some even appearing like they were reaching and moving towards them.

"Oh, my God!" Amy gasped, "They've moved!"

"I'll check ahead," Mac called, rushing out the door behind them, "You check behind!" she told the Doctor who nodded and ran back the way they'd come, both of them seeing that the statues were facing their location.

"They're Angels," the Doctor ran back in.

"Mine as well," Mac nodded, coming back.

"But they can't be," River shook her head.

"But they are," Mac told her, "All of the statues are Weeping Angels and they're coming after us."

"There was only one Angel on the ship," River looked at the Time Lords, crossing her heart, swearing it to them, needing them to believe her, "Just the one, I swear. I wouldn't lie about that. I wouldn't put you both in that sort of danger, ever. I…"

"River," Mac reached out to hug her, seeing the woman was truly alarmed, "We believe you."

River hugged her back, "You do?"

Mac smiled and pulled away, "We trust you," she nodded, not seeing Octavian's jaw tense at that declaration.

"How could they have been here already?" Amy had to ask, not understanding.

"The Aplans," the Doctor turned to River and Octavian, "How did they die out?"

"Nobody knows," River shrugged.

"Guess again," Mac murmured, the answer was all too obvious now.

"They don't look like Angels though," Octavian kept his light on one of them, it was half dragging itself on the ground, reaching for them, hardly any sort of facial features or features in general, more like a humanish lump of stone.

"And they're not fast," Amy agreed, "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"They're dying," the Doctor eyed it, "Losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image."

"And that'll make them desperate," Mac frowned, "They'll be more dangerous than ever if they regain their power."

"Power…" the Doctor's eyes widened, "Power!" he spun to face them, "Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident!"

Mac blinked, "It was a rescue!"

The Doctor pointed at her, "A rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"Then we need to get out of here, fast," River determined.

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please," Octavian called over his comm., "Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir," Bob answered, "Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

"Bob," the Doctor snatched the comm. from Octavian, "Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

"Actually sir, could I talk to the nice woman sir? Agent Mackenzie?"

"Of course you can," Mac took the comm. from the Doctor, "But why me?"

"Because I'm scared ma'am and…you made me feel better," Bob stated, "Like my mum always did."

Mac smiled a little at that, pleased she was able to help comfort him a bit, "Where are you Bob?"

"I'm on my way up to you, ma'am, I'm homing on your signal."

"Well done, Bob," the Doctor cheered as he joined Mac, "Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

"That's…that's not right," Mac frowned, "Angels don't do that unless they…need the bodies for something," she swallowed hard, praying that her suspicion wasn't founded, "Bob…is this the REAL Bob?"

"What do you mean the 'real' Bob?" Octavian scoffed.

"No ma'am," Bob answered, "It's not. The Angel killed me, too. Snapped my neck. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"If you're dead, how can we be talking to you?" the Doctor frowned.

"I told you, the Angels take parts of your body if they need it," Mac shook her head, feeling ill, "It's using your voice, isn't it Bob?"

"Yes, ma'am," Bob agreed, "It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and reanimated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"So when you say you're on your way up to us..." the Doctor closed his eyes.

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."

"No way out," the Doctor looked at Mac, alarmed, feeling the familiar fear he'd felt when he'd been about to face the Daleks rising in his chest again, a sort of pressure that made him feel like he couldn't breathe knowing Mac was facing a danger he felt he couldn't protect her from.

"Then we get out through the wreckage," Octavian determined, "Go!"

"Go, go, go," the Doctor nodded, urging them on, "All of you run!"

"Doctor?" Amy shook her head.

"Yes, I'm coming, just go, go, go!" they turned to run off but Mac didn't, "Kenzie please," he whispered, "Go…YOU need to protect them when I can't…that's our thing right?" he tried to smile but he was too worried, "Go."

Mac bit her lip before she sighed and nodded running after the others, through a small passage way to see Amy had stopped, "Amy," she moved over to the girl, putting her hand on a railing for balance, "Go!" she pushed Amy on and moved to follow…only to realize her hand wouldn't let go of the railing. She looked down and saw her hand appeared gray to her, gray skinned, like stone, "Wonderful," she muttered, trying to tug her hand up.

A few moments later Octavian rushed past, followed by the Doctor who stopped when he saw her waiting, "Don't wait for me, go, run!"

"I can't," she grunted, still trying to get her hand up.

"Why not?" he stopped.

"My hand," she nodded at it, "I see stone instead of skin."

The Doctor frowned and looked at it, seeing regular peach coloring, and then to her. He took her penlight from her other hand and flashed it in her eyes, not wanting to blind her with his torch, "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

"At first," she nodded, "But then I used my mirror to stop it, I guess I wasn't quick enough."

"It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"No, really?" she muttered sarcastically, "I thought I'd just inhaled Pyrovile dust," he started to crack a smile at that, "I'm well aware my hand isn't actually stone, but my MIND thinks it is…or part of it does. I can't get it to react as though it weren't stone."

The Doctor glanced back, "You need to convince it it's not then, or the Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn our lights off and we won't be able to stop it. Just…just…concentrate, move your hand!"

"I've TRIED," she argued, "Doctor…you need to activate the pain receptors."

"What?"

"If _I_ do it, I'll be expecting it, it'll be MY hand hitting MY hand and I'll just feel it as though it were stone. I need someone else to do something, I don't care, bite it, pinch it, cut it, what have you but I need someone who sees it as flesh to do something to get through to my brain that it's not stone. Make my hand feel something that a stone can't!"

"But…but it'll HURT you," he frowned at her, not wanting to do that, not wanting to cause her even the slightest bit of pain.

"And I'm pretty sure death by Weeping Angel will hurt a hell of a lot more," she told him calmly though with a bit of force in it, "So either hurt my hand or we both get torn apart by an Angel," he still hesitated, "If it makes you feel better, I'll slap you afterwards, a pain for a pain. Deal?"

He looked at her and then the passage, seeing the stone angels already approaching, the lights starting to flicker, "I'm sorry," he whispered, before leaning over and biting her hand, making her hiss in pain and snap her hand back, no longer seeing it as stone.

He closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that was the most foolish thing to do with statues that needed to be seen to be stopped coming closer, but he needed to ready himself for the slap. He didn't want to see her hitting him as much as he hadn't wanted to hurt her…

When he felt a soft hand on his cheek turning his head…and a pair of warm lips on his other cheek, and his eyes snapped open to see Mac had given him a kiss on the cheek in thanks.

"Gotcha," she winked, "As though I'd slap you for helping me," she murmured, taking his hand and pulling him along through the archway and down a passage towards where they could hear the others talking.

"…down to four men," Octavian was saying, "Expect incoming."

"Yeah, it's the Angels," the Doctor called as they ran in to see a large, dark cavern, with the belly of the _Byzantium_ sticking through the top of it, "They're coming."

"They're going to try and turn your lights off so they can drain the _Byzantium_'s power," Mac warned.

"Which means we won't be able to see them," Octavian realized.

"Which means we can't stay here," the Doctor agreed.

Octavian's eyes widened as he saw something over their shoulder, "There are more incoming!" he pushed past them, aiming his gun at the statues he could see through the passage way behind them, keeping his eye on them.

"Any suggestions?" River looked at the Time Lords.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the _Byzantium_."

There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when one of you have a really good idea."

"Anyone got an umbrella?" Mac asked.

"A what?" Amy stared at her.

"To make a grappling hook? No?" Mac sighed and looked around, trying to find some way to get them up to the ship…

"There's always a way out," the Doctor murmured, glancing over to see more statues approaching as the lights flickered, "There's always a way out."

"Doctor?" Bob called over the comm., "Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

"Hello, Angels," the Doctor greeted, "What's your problem?"

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

"Why are you telling me this? What, don't want to speak to Kenzie now?"

"There's something the Angels are very keen _you_ should know before the end."

"Which is?"

"I died in fear."

The Doctor blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" Amy whispered to River.

"They're trying to make him angry," River said sadly, "That's when he makes mistakes."

"I'm sorry, sir," Bob spoke, "The Angels were very keen for you to know that."

Mac looked over, seeing the lights flicker and more statues coming, and back to the ship as the gravity globe flickered as well…and then it hit her, '_Doctor!_' she called, pointing up at it.

He grinned, nodding, seeing what she had, "Well then, the Angels have made their third mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir," Bob argued, "You and your Chosen are about to die."

"Yeah, we're trapped," the Doctor nodded, not even correcting Bob about the 'Chosen' remark, why should he? Everyone they'd met so far called Mac that, she was as good as in his mind then, they just had to make it official one day, and THAT was what brought him back to point, "Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake!"

"What mistake, sir?"

The Doctor looked at Mac as she nodded, "Do it."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Bet your life on it?" he smiled.

"Always," she joked.

He looked at her softly, "You really trust me that much?"

"I do," she whispered, having learned from her mistake in doubting him in the past.

He smiled widely at that and glanced at Amy, "Trust me?"

"Yeah," she said instantly.

So he looked at River, "Trust me?"

"Of course," River smiled.

"You lot," he turned to Octavian and the clerics, "Trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" a soldier called.

"We have faith, sir," Octavian said diplomatically.

The Doctor nodded, that was good enough for him, "Then give me your gun," he held out a hand and Octavian handed it over, "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous," he warned them all, "When I do," he gave a small hop, "Jump."

"Jump where?"

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it," he turned and aimed the gun up above them.

"Sorry, can I ask again?" Bob called, "You mentioned a mistake? Two others?"

The Doctor scoffed, "Oh yes, two very BIG mistakes. Huge. You put my Kenzie in danger," his expression hardened at that, "You tried to trap her and attack her, and I will not let that pass. And now?" he laughed, "You've put the one thing in a trap that you never should. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, _ever_ put in a trap…"

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me!" the Doctor shouted, firing at the gravity globe and shattering it, casting them into darkness…

To be continued…

A/N: I just want to apologize for my lack of being on tumblr the last few days. Lots of tension at home :( My dad's midlife crisis is just bringing up fights...my mom's after my brother, my brother's after my dad, my sister doesn't care, and I'm sort of stuck in the middle trying to keep them all calm -sigh- There's been nothing but fight after fight for the last few days so it's been wearing me out and it's just getting worse :( Right now they're all at the point of not talking to each other so maybe the next few days will be calmer and they'll start talking and resolve this soon :(

But I hope you liked the chapter :) We'll see more of River and Mac's relationship tomorrow. I hope you liked the twist of Mac with the Angel in her head right off the bat. I did something like it with Evy, where she pulled the Angel from Amy's head near the end, but this time we get to see a Time Lady handle it from the go ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm not quite sure if they're shoe-horned references to talk about earlier in the series lol :) Even though all the incarnations are different and live different lives, they do all have the same memories :) The Doctor's whole speech to Amy on the Starship UK was that he doesn't forget a moment of his past no matter what, I'm just keeping that more alive. I know it bothered A LOT of people when 11 hardly even mentioned Martha or Donna or any of his other past companions and I feel like not mentioning past moments is a little too much like Moffat in disregarding half of what RTD set down and making the show just what HE wanted with his own Doctor instead of a continuation of all Doctors past :) Different 11 and different Mac means they remember different things and bring them up :)

Rory can't be Mac's official companion, as she's not a pilot in this series, but unofficially they'll be very close ;)

River loves Mac, she'll be very nice and very concerned about her ;)

Lol, April fools is great :) Whenever someone complains to me that PC is too old...I just counter with, he's the same age as the Doctor who started it all ;) They can't say he's too old and won't work if the actor who was the 1st Doctor was the same and sparked 50 years worth of episodes, maybe PC will spark another 50 :) And no worries, I love every length review :)

I can say that River won't be having a child nope, so I can't really pair her son with Clara either :)

I can say that River will say something about Amy to Mac, but I won't say what }:)


	6. Flesh and Stone

Flesh and Stone

"Kenzie!" the Doctor shouted as he rushed over to where Mac was sitting up on the 'ground,' trying to push herself to stand, and helped her up completely, "You alright?" he looked her in the eyes intently, trying to see if there was any other sign of what the Weeping Angel might have done to her and also if she was ok.

"Fine," she nodded, looking around and moving to help River up as well, "Hurry," she called to the others, "We need to get you lot up now."

"Yes, yes," the Doctor nodded, "Look up as well!"

"Amy?" Mac moved to her after steadying River, "Are you ok?"

"What happened?" Amy frowned as she was pulled to her feet.

"We jumped," River glanced around, realizing what had happened.

"Jumped where?"

"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor kept shouting.

"Mac, where are we?" Amy turned to her.

"On the bottom of the ship," Mac told her, tugging her to the side as the Doctor moved to sonic an indentation on the floor, trying to get a door open, "The gravity globe gave us an updraft when the Doctor shot it and the ship's gravity is still going,"

Amy did as the Doctor said and looked up, seeing that they really were on the bottom of the Byzantium, just standing there, upside down, staring up at the statues still on the ground.

"Doctor," Octavian called, "The statues, they look more like Angels now."

River looked up as well to see that the stone statues seemed about half formed, they had sharper facial features, something resembling clothes carved into them and what appeared to be nearly-formed wings on their backs. And they were all reaching up towards them, "They're feeding on the radiation from the ship, aren't they?" she glanced at Mac and the Doctor.

"Yes," Mac nodded, "They're using the power to restore themselves."

"Within an hour, they'll be an army!" the Doctor added, "Now if I could just get this…" he muttered, flashing the sonic along the indentation, trying to get it open.

Mac knelt across from him and pulled her trusty, ordinary screwdriver from her pocket and jammed it in the wedge of the doors, pushing it back and forth, digging the tool in deeper, till the door clicked. The Doctor grinned and flashed the sonic, causing the indent to open up, revealing it was a path to a corridor just as the lights around them at the base of the ship began to flicker.

"They're taking out the lights," he gasped.

"I hadn't realized that," Mac muttered sarcastically, "Bishop, keep your men watching them," she gave a small command.

"The rest of you into the ship, now, quickly all of you!" the Doctor grabbed Mac's hands and helped her down into the hole, slipping in after her.

"But how?" Amy rushed to the edge of the hole, only to see that Mac and the Doctor appeared to be standing parallel to the ground, their feet on the wall…or they would have been if it hadn't been for a circular archway behind them and how the flat part of it was also 'the wall' and realized it was actually the floor, they were right side up even if they appeared on their side to her.

"It's just a corridor," the Doctor told her, "The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you, don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!"

"Come on Amy," Mac moved nearer to the hole to help Amy in as the Doctor rushed to a keypad in the back, keeping the door open for them.

"Ok, men, go, go, go!" Octavian ordered as he and the soldiers slowly began to move backwards towards the hole, all of them slipping in, their eyes on the statues for as long as they could maintain till the doors slammed shut after they'd entered, sealing them from the danger, for now, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"

"They can FLY," Mac corrected, "That's the point of their wings, it's not just a fashion statement Bishop."

"They're here," the Doctor nodded, "Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!" he grabbed Mac's hand and turned to run towards the circular archway behind them…only for an equally large, circular doorway to roll closed before them, trapping them in.

"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian cried.

"Time bomb actually," Mac countered, "Ticking time bomb," she frowned, not sure why the fact that it was ticking down bothered her, sort of tickled her mind at the thought of a countdown…

"Well, it's a death trap _and_ a time bomb," the Doctor agreed, squeezing Mac's hand, "And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic!" he turned to them, the small group spinning around when they heard a banging on the door they'd come from and knew it was the Angels trying to get in, "Oh, just me then," he mumbled as Mac patted his shoulder.

"What's past this door anyway?" Mac frowned at the circular door.

"Secondary flight deck," River glanced at her scanner, complete with the blueprints of the ship.

"Have you got the blueprints in there?" Mac asked, not sure if it was River's time on the ship that allowed her to know what was there or something else.

River nodded, "I like having a manual around," she remarked, "Blue prints, instructions, schematics…I like knowing how things work so I can take them apart easier."

"Why take them apart?"

"Smaller pieces are easier to handle," River shrugged.

"Ok," Amy cut in, shaking her head, getting them back to point, seeing that River seemed almost as easily distracted as the Doctor was, "So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"

"I've thought about that," the Doctor murmured as River turned to try and work on the lights.

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. I've thought about it," he flashed the sonic at the controls on the opposite end of the room than where River was, frowning at the results, "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them, it's impossible."

"How impossible?" River glanced back at him.

"Two minutes?" he guessed…only for a faint hum to sound as the lights turned off, the ship seeming to power down a moment before it came back on, but this time the door they'd come through was open.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Octavian stated.

"Yes," Mac rolled her eyes, feeling a pit forming in her stomach, "Thank you Captain Obvious," she said sarcastically, unable to help it. With the small doorway open and the lights flickering, it would only be a matter of time before the Angels started to make their way in and if they weren't careful or fast enough or had enough light or stamina to stare at the Angels when they arrived…two minutes wouldn't be quick enough to get them all safe. The Angels were quickly regaining strength and they'd soon be attacking all of them.

As though reading her thoughts, the lights went out again and when they flickered on, one of the Angels had their arms reaching through the door.

"Sir!" one of the men warned, "Incoming!"

"Doctor!" Amy gasped as the lights flickered out once more, "Lights!"

The Doctor let go of Mac's hand and rushed over to River, flashing the sonic at the controls by her and bringing the lights back on for only a moment, enough for the Angel to start to crawl inside, before they permanently came on…but there were four Angels in the hall with them now.

"Clerics, keep watching them!" Octavian ordered.

"Do NOT look in their eyes," Mac added, "Look at their nose, their ear, their shoulder, I don't care, just keep away from the eyes. Doctor?" she looked at him.

He nodded, "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."

Octavian let out a breath of relief at that, starting to smile, "Good work, Doctor."

"Yes. good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."

Amy closed her eyes a moment, recognizing that tone, "So far?"

Mac frowned and looked at the controls by River, her eyes widening as she realized what the Doctor meant by that, "The door won't open unless we reroute all the power to it…including the power to the lights."

"How long would the lights be out for?" Octavian called.

"Fraction of a second?" the Doctor guessed, scratching the side of his face, "Maybe longer? Maybe quite a bit longer?"

"Maybe?"

"I'm guessing!" the Doctor huffed, "We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this and it's not like I can focus all my attention on that either!"

"Doctor," Amy cut in just as Octavian went to ask what else there was for him to focus on besides the Angels that were nearly upon them, "We lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness."

"There's no other way," he looked at Mac, "I'm sorry," he told her, "Still trust me?"

She nodded, "They're faster than before, but they're still not up to par. We may have just enough time."

He smiled at her for that, for her belief in him, before he looked at Octavian, "Bishop?"

Octavian though, turned to River instead, "Dr. Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"

"I absolutely trust him," River nodded, firm.

"He's not some kind of madman then?"

River hesitated, blinking, before repeating, "I absolutely trust him."

"He's as mad as they come," Mac told Octavian, "But often the line between madness and brilliance is blurred at best. He's both. A mad genius."

The Doctor grinned at her, "And you're both too, beautiful and brainy."

"Brainy?" she chuckled a bit at the word, she gives him 'genius' and all he could counter with was 'brainy?' It was amusing though.

The Doctor shrugged, "Both in equal proportions."

Mac shook her head, "Thanks, but you'd best focus your mad brilliance on the doors," she nodded to the control panel that operated the one behind them.

"Ok," Octavian looked over at them from where he'd quietly been conversing with River while they talked themselves, "Doctor, we've got your back."

"Good, good," he nodded, "You should definitely have only MY back."

"Oi," Mac nudged him, "What about MY back?"

"_I_ have your back," he told her, moving to the control panel and getting to work, "Which is just as well, it should just be me having your back."

"And why's that?" Mac scoffed.

"I rather appreciate the view," he shrugged.

"You and my ginger hair," she muttered under her breath, not seeing how the Doctor's cheeks had flushed a bright red, almost as red as her hair, for he had clearly NOT been taking about the view of the back of her head.

"Kenzie," he glanced back at her as Octavian began to organize his men, "Can you take the door?"

She nodded, heading over to it, "It'll release when the power's cut yes?"

"Spin it clockwise, four turns," he agreed.

"Alright ten."

He frowned, "Four," he corrected, "I said four."

Mac blinked, "I know, I said alright then."

"Oh…" he eyed her suspiciously, "I thought…I thought you said TEN."

Mac frowned at that in return, HAD she said ten?

But the Doctor shook his head, looking around at the others, "Ready?" he slowly stood, pointing the sonic at the controls, glancing at Mac as she crouched by the doors, her hands on the giant wheel that was set into it, the soldiers facing the Angels with their guns ready as River pulled Amy back towards the door, ready to slip through once it opened.

"On my count then," Octavian agreed, "God be with us all. Three... two...one!" the Doctor flashed the controls, shutting the lights off, "Fire!" and the soldiers opened non-stop fire on the statues, the Doctor quickly rushing to Mac's side to help her turn the wheel, rather a hard task actually, but they managed to get it going and the door opening, allowing River and Amy through.

The Doctor pushed Mac after them, moving to the side to allow Octavian and his soldiers on as well, before he too stepped through, flicking off the sonic and shutting the door behind him, sealing them off from the Angels for now. He turned, getting another door at the end of the hall opened for them to head in only to find they'd reached the Secondary Flight Deck…one that was in a severe state of disrepair, wires hanging out, panels ripped off the controls, static on monitors, debris everywhere.

Mac ran to one of the controls, quickly putting in a command to seal the three doors that surrounded them and gave access to the room, locking them and trying to stall the Angels at least a little.

"What are you doing?" Amy looked at Octavian as he placed a sort of magnetic device on the center door they'd run through.

"Magnetized the door," Octavian told her, "Nothing could turn that wheel now."

"It appears nothing IS," Mac pointed at the door as the wheel started to turn slowly behind him, in staggered movements, like someone on the other side was really turning it.

"Dear God!"

"Ah, now you're getting it!" the Doctor murmured, flashing the sonic at the controls before him, trying to get something working as Mac moved to another panel, cutting wires with her pocket knife and trying to fuse them together and get them going as well, "You've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time. Supremely good with time."

"Hardly," Mac scoffed, "You always cut it to the wire when there's not enough time and get into an impatient sulk if there's too much."

"Not always," he pouted, "I've got endless patience with you."

Mac paused and looked at him, "Are you calling me difficult again?"

"No!" he shouted, "I just…I meant…I love the time I have with you," he corrected, realizing how his prior statement had come out completely not how he intended it to, "I'd give anything for an eternity of it."

Mac nodded at that and turned back to her work, more subdued, knowing that he likely meant that he wished he had more time in his current body.

River eyed her expression closely, working out what she probably thought and shaking her head, that girl…she really couldn't wait till she ran into HER Mackenzie and Doctor, though it was very amusing to watch the Doctor try to flirt and seem to fail miserably at it.

"Doctor!" Amy gasped as a second door on the left began to spin its wheel, MUCH faster than the middle door was moving.

"Seal that door!" Octavian commanded, "Seal it now!" and a soldier ran to place the same magnetic lock on it, slowing the wheel.

"We're surrounded," River frowned as the last door began to spin as well, a soldier rushing to take care of it too.

"How long have we got?" Octavian turned to the Time Lords.

"Five minutes, max," the Doctor stated.

"Nine," Mac nodded.

The Doctor looked up at her, "Five."

Mac frowned as she turned to him, "I said…FINE, didn't I?"

He just shook his head, "No…NINE."

Mac blinked and looked down, her eyes shifting as she thought on that, trying to work out why she'd said nine apparently. She trusted the Doctor, if he said she'd said nine then she said nine. WHY she'd said it was something else though. She wasn't going to waste time arguing about what she said or hadn't said, she'd rather worry about what had made her say that in the first place.

"We need another way out of here," River moved over to them.

"There isn't one," Octavian countered.

"I think the Doctor proved you wrong in the cavern, Bishop," Mac looked up again, "There's always a way," she turned around for something, "We just need to find it…"

"This is a galaxy class ship," the Doctor agreed, "Goes for years between planet-falls. So," he snapped his fingers and pointed at River, "What do they need?"

River blinked and her eyes widened, working out what Mac and the Doctor had, "Of course!"

"Of course, what?" Amy shook her head, lost, "What do they need?"

"Can we get in there?" even Octavian seemed to understand what they were speaking of.

"Get in where?"

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow," the Doctor remarked.

"Installed what?!"

"This wall…" Mac put her ear to the back wall and rapped on it, hearing a hollow noise behind it, "It's false…it must be behind here…"

"It should slide up," River agreed as she moved to help Mac and the Doctor search for something.

"There's clamps!" the Doctor spotted near the bottom of the wall and quickly flashed the sonic at them, "Release the clamps!"

"What is through there?"Amy called, really wanting to know but no one was answering her, "What do they need?!"

"Air," Mac smiled as the wall rose to reveal what looked like a thick forest on the other side.

"But that's..." Amy breathed, staring in awe as the Doctor grinned widely at how surprised she was, "That's a..."

"It's an oxygen factory," River nodded.

"It's a forest."

"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory."

"And, if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor smiled.

"Eight," Mac gave a small nod.

River frowned and looked at her, concerned, "What did you say?"

"Great?" Mac offered though she was frowning now, had she said…what was it, EIGHT then? This was…not good, not good at all, she was truly starting to worry now.

"Is there another exit?" the Doctor turned to Octavian, serious, knowing he had to get Mac out of there and back to the TARDIS to scan her and see what was wrong, "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."

"On it!" Octavian headed into the forest, "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."

"But trees!" Amy continued to gush, laughing and smiling, not seeming to have heard Mac or River speaking or noticed how serious the Doctor had grown as he stared out into the forest intently, "On a spaceship?"

"More than trees," the Doctor countered, taking a step in to pull a small bit of peat moss off one tree's bark, "Treeborgs," and showed her that there was a mess of wires and lights inside the small tree trunk, "Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull allowing it to suck in starlight, breathe out air. It can ran as well, creating a mini-climate, an eco-pod."

"Sev…" Mac started to say before she cut herself off, now all too aware that she had started to say a number.

"Seven?" the Doctor turned to her and headed back to her side as she nodded, looking at him, concerned.

"Doctor!" Octavian called from a short distance away, "Agent Mackenzie! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."

"Good," the Doctor nodded, not taking his eyes off Mac, "That's where we need to go."

"Plotting a safe path."

"As fast as you can please!" Mac added.

"Doctor?" the comm. crackled, Bob's voice ringing out to them, "Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."

"What do you want?" the Doctor asked, taking Mac's penlight and flashing her eyes again, frowning as he studied them, trying to work out what was wrong.

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve? Nothing at the moment," he knew, right now he'd probably be trying to lighten the mood for the others, reassure them, make jokes about comfy chairs and what not…but he just couldn't. There was something wrong with Mac, and for something to be able to affect a Time Lord…it was BAD. He didn't have time to be light or joking, not with a Weeping Angel, and not with Mac in such a state where her words weren't her own.

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

Mac winced.

"What is it?" he whispered to her.

"I…I almost said six," she told him, just as quietly, "Why did I almost say that?"

He took a small step back and grabbed the com, "Tell me, Angel Bob, what have you done to Kenzie?"

"There is something in her eye," Bob answered cryptically.

"And what's that?" Mac frowned.

"What's in her eye?" the Doctor called.

"We are," Bob stated.

"Why are you making me count down?" Mac called, "I've got 5 on the tip of my tongue, why do you want me to say it?"

"To make you afraid, ma'am."

Mac blinked, raising an eyebrow at that, "Really?" she scoffed, "And a countdown is supposed to make me afraid?"

"It's what shall happen at the end of the countdown that you should fear."

"And what's that?" she rolled her eyes.

"We shall take you. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."

"Oh please," she huffed, "I was infected by an ancient, Martian parasite and burned it out of me, I doubt you could 'take me.' Unlike the others, I'm a Time Lady Bob. I'm not that hard to beat."

"There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much," the Doctor agreed, smiling at her, impressed and awed that she was being so calm with the Weeping Angels seeming having some sort of way to try and get to her.

He knew a human would likely be frightened but…well, he knew there were only two things that frightened Mac, Daleks and spiders, and the Angels were neither. That had been another reason he'd wanted to keep her from being on the ship with the Daleks when they'd helped Winston, he didn't want to trap her on one of their ships. He'd felt how tense she'd been through the entire time they'd been on Earth with just 2 of them. She was being very brave right now though, keeping clam with the threat to her.

'_I trust you Doctor,_' Mac spoke in his mind, '_Whatever it is…we'll figure it out together and stop it. I know you won't let it hurt me in the end._'

He smiled and nodded at that, '_Never ever. They WON'T get you, I won't let them._'

"With respect, sir," Bob countered, "There is more power on this ship than you yet understand."

The entire group winced as a terrible screeching noise sounded above them, the Doctor, Mac, and River covering their ears, "Dear God, what is it?!" River cried.

"They're back," Octavian called.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr. Song," Bob answered, "But as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."

"Laughing?" the Doctor frowned.

"Because you haven't noticed yet," Bob laughed, "Neither you nor your Chosen…"

"I HAVE a name you know," Mac huffed, she was getting just a bit tired of everything being 'the Doctor and his Chosen' when she had a name of her own, or even her nickname of Mackenzie. It was especially annoying as she wasn't even his Chosen yet…

She blinked and stiffened, why had she thought 'yet?'

The Doctor frowned at that, tensing as he felt a sort of energy flare up behind him and slowly turned to see there was a giant crack on the wall above the door they'd run through, "That can't be…" he muttered, rushing over to it, flashing the sonic at it to scan it.

"That's..." Amy breathed, terrified, "That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl."

"It's alright Amy," Mac moved over and took her hand, "Prison Zero, all of that…it's not the same crack, it just looks like it."

"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian called.

"Agreed," River nodded, putting her hand on Mac's shoulder, "Doctor?"

"Yes," he nodded, swallowing hard, "You lot, go!"

"We're not leaving without you!" River and Mac shouted at the same time.

"Oh, yes you are," he whispered, before looking over his shoulder at Octavian, "Bishop?"

Octavian gave him a curt nod of understanding, "Agent Mackenzie," he reached out to take her arms, tugging her back, "Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!" he gave River a hard look, nearly a threatening look, and River grabbed Amy's arm to pull her back and out with them, forcing the two gingers into the forest with them, trusting the Doctor would be alright and rejoin them. So far the Angels were trapped in the halls and not in the forest so they should be safe for the moment.

Or so they thought, for they'd only just gotten down a small hill a short distance away from the Secondary Flight Deck, when Mac started to stagger, turning quite a few shades paler.

"Mackenzie?" River frowned, moving over to her, trying to steady her as she stumbled again, nearly falling down, "What's wrong? What is it?"

Mac panted as she sunk to her knees. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, "The countdown…"

"Four?" River guessed and Mac nodded, opening her eyes to look at River, "Med-scanner, now!" she turned to one of the soldiers as he handed one over to her, the woman quickly wrapping it around Mac's arm as Amy crouched beside her, a hand rubbing Mac's back. The Time Lady looked about ready to be sick all over the ground or pass out.

"Dr. Song, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving," Octavian warned.

River shook her head, starting the scanner up, "We wait for the Doctor."

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved..."

"Father Octavian," River cut in, sending him a hard look, "When the Doctor or Mackenzie are in the room, your _only _mission is to keep them alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me. It's not easy. Mackenzie's not too hard, but the Doctor?" she shook her head, "If he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, neither will Mackenzie, and if he's alive, Mackenzie will likely have quite a few choice words for him and I'll never forgive him. And…" Mac cleared her throat, nodding her head to the side just slightly, "Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?" she guessed from Mac's hint.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor's voice called.

River looked over her shoulder at him to see he was standing there at the top of the small hill without his tweed jacket, "I hate you!"

"You don't," he shook his head, heading down the small hill and over to them, "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," he warned, moving to kneel before Mac, taking her head in his hands to look at her, she was starting to sweat just a little.

"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian ordered his men.

"How'd you get by?" Mac mumbled.

"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe," he shrugged.

"Why would you TELL them that?" Mac moaned.

Amy frowned at the tone of it, "Why wouldn't he? Isn't it just a…clever lie or something?"

"Um…no," the Doctor scratched the side of his face, "It really was the end of the universe. But now's not the time," he snatched the scanner from River, checking himself what it was reading.

"You really need evidence that the Angels are trying to kill me Doctor?" Mac took the scanner out of his hands.

He winced, "Sorry," he murmured, "Let's see…let's see…something's in her eye. What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything…" he quickly stood, starting to pace, unable to stand being in front of Mac as she started to pant for breath, if he sat there any longer, faced with that, he'd worry, he'd fret more than he already was, he wouldn't be able to focus. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to bring her with him to see the Daleks! He was rubbish when he couldn't focus. Granted he could hardly focus when Mac was around and there was nothing deadly going on, she was quite distracting, but this was worse! This time she was depending on him, he NEEDED to focus, "What happened? She stared at the Angel, she looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long..." he winced, hearing the soldiers calling out warnings that the Angels were getting close, "Come on!" he slapped his head repeatedly, "Come on, wakey, wakey! She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and…"

"What was it you said?" Mac swallowed, looking up at him, "The image of an Angel is an Angel?" she shook her head, "Memories are just images in our minds."

The Doctor stopped short at that, "A living image in a human mind. We stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's _exactly w_hat they want, cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in your mind!" he slapped his hand over his mouth, staring at her in horror.

Mac groaned, flinching, "Ok…" she took a breath, "We've got 3, whatever that means, seconds, minutes, just…3."

"Doctor what's happening?!" Amy cried, starting to get very frightened for Mac, especially give the expression on the Doctor's face right that moment.

"There's an image of an Angel trapped in the vision center of her brain, Amy," River explained as the Doctor sunk to his knees before Mac.

"It's like there's a screen," he whispered, "A virtual screen inside her mind, and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut her off."

"So how do we stop it?" Mac got them to point, trying to be calm even though her hearts were racing, and not in any way that related to her or the situation, she could tell it was the Angels trying to get her, "We need ONE way."

"If it was a real screen, we'd pull the plug," the Doctor tried to reason.

"We can't just knock her out!" River countered, "The Angel'll take over!"

"We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel…" he quickly snapped his fingers and pointed at Amy, "How would you starve your lungs?"

"Hold my breath," she answered instantly, "Stop breathing?"

He turned to Mac, "Close your eyes!"

Mac did so instantly, the scanner in River's hand that had started beeping frantically along with her hearts, slowed, the lights on it turning from warning red to calming green, "She's normalizing," River sighed, hugging Mac in a side-ways hug, "You did it, you're safe."

The Doctor leaned forward and pulled Mac into his arms, holding her tightly, ignoring the soldiers calling even more warnings about the Angels that were starting to surround them.

"I can't open my eyes, can I?" Mac whispered to him, hugging him back.

"No," he swallowed hard, smiling a bit, "But I'll find a way to stop them, to get rid of the Angel inside you," he pulled away and put a hand to her cheek, "I don't think I could live without seeing those lovely eyes of yours," he murmured.

"I'd rather like to be able to see again too," she nodded, making him chuckle lightly and shake his head, "You know, without dying from opening them," she was aware, very much so as she could feel the Angel in her mind now, it had come too close to the surface for her not to be aware of its presence, but she could feel it shifting about and was doing her best to keep it at the surface and not allow it to bury itself in her head or dig deeply and hide. The Angel had only been paused, so to speak, like the video blip she'd frozen.

"Doctor," Octavian called, "We're too exposed here. We have to move on."

"We're exposed everywhere," he countered, "And we can't risk moving Kenzie," he sighed, rubbing his head, he could see it even now, despite the Angel being subdued, the stress it had put her body through before that had taken its toll on her. She'd be shaky at best, need support to walk and with her eyes closed, it would be slower going, "And anyway, that's not the plan," he shook his head.

"There's a plan?" River gave him a look as she squeezed Mac's shoulder.

"Hardly," Mac smiled a bit, "He makes it up as he goes River. I think that's one of his rules actually…can't remember which though…"

The Doctor smiled at that as well, standing, "I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking. Right!" he took a breath, "Firstly, Father, have you heard of the Oncoming Storm?"

"Yes sir," Octavian nodded, a little confused as to why he was asking that.

"Good, good, you and your Clerics will stay here, look after Kenzie. If anything happens to her, you'll find out exactly why I'm called that," he gave the man a hard look, "Amy, you stay here and make sure they don't muck it up. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is…"

"Why do I have to stay here again?" Amy cut in, "Can't I go with you and help?"

"I want someone to stay with Kenzie," he shook his head.

"What about River? Can't SHE stay?"

"I barely know her Amy," he reminded her, "You really think I'm going to just trust her to watch Kenzie?"

Mac frowned, feeling River stiffen beside her, hearing a short intake of breath that didn't sound surprised or angry but…shaky…like she was hurt from what he'd said. She felt River's grip on her shoulder tense slightly before it relaxed and could hear her swallow beside her. Clearly the Doctor's words, his lack of trust in her was greatly affecting River.

"And besides," River added, "I think Mackenzie would appreciate that as well, someone she…she knows and trusts being here with her too, someone who can see."

Mac reached out and touched River's hand on her shoulder, hearing a crack in her voice as she said the word 'trust' and squeezed it, "I…DO trust you River."

River smiled at that, "But you don't know me," she countered, "Amy you really should stay with her. Leave the Doctor to me."

River watched tensely as Amy huffed and rolled her eyes but nodded. She'd seen it, a bit of an…attachment that Amy seemed to have for the Doctor, a sort of gravitational leaning towards him over Mac. The way the woman flirted and teased the Doctor, even if HE didn't seem to realize it for what it was, it…bothered her. It bothered her very much because the Mac and Doctor SHE knew…she couldn't fathom it, that Amy could even begin to flirt with the Doctor. Because the Amy SHE knew as well didn't see him like that, or wouldn't see him like that she supposed. It was just very disconcerting and very uncomfortable to see Amy flirting with the Doctor and she found herself not wanting to let Amy alone with him if she could help it.

"Now that that's settled," the Doctor nodded, licking his finger and holding it up, "The flight deck is a quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilize the wreckage. stop the Angels, and cure Kenzie."

"How?" River asked.

"I'll do a thing."

"What thing?"

"A think you'll inevitably have to keep an eye on him doing lest he cause the entire ship to explode," Mac remarked dryly, her head hurting a bit from her efforts to keep the Angel from digging around. She was trying very hard to visualize a sort of brick wall or something to contain it, but it was hard to do with all the talking and arguing.

"Oi!" the Doctor pointed at her like he wanted to argue, before simply turning, "Moving out!"

"Doctor, I'm coming with you," Octavian stepped up, "My Clerics can look after Agent Mackenzie and Miss Pond. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in their protection."

"I don't need you," the Doctor shook his head.

"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."

"What?" the Doctor scoffed and glanced at River, still sitting beside Mackenzie, Amy standing beside her, "You two engaged or something?"

"Yes," Octavian answered, "In a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back," he called to one of the men before he headed off.

"Sir!" the man, Marco, saluted as River stood, squeezing Mac once more on the shoulder before following Octavian off.

"Doctor," Mac called, making him turn back to her, kneeling before her so he could take her hands, wondering if he should probably help move her onto a rock instead of the dirt floor to sit on but she made no indication that she was uncomfortable despite the skirt of her dress getting soiled, "Please be careful."

"You know me," he squeezed her hands.

"I do," she nodded, "That's why I said it."

He smiled, and touched her face, "I promise you Kenzie, I'll come back safe and sound as soon as I can," his thumb lightly stroked her cheek, "I'd fight a planet's worth of Angels to get back to you."

"Looks like you just might have to," she joked.

"And I will," he put his hand on hers again, before he lifted them both to kiss the backs of them, "You just sit tight and keep calm."

"Here," Mac took a deep breath and pulled out a compact mirror, the rather pink one, and handed it to him, "Take this, incase you spot an Angel, it ought to freeze them long enough for you to blink or look away."

He took it, eyeing the color a moment, before he slipped it into his pant pocket, "How many mirrors do you have?"

"At a guess?" she shrugged, "Round about 20 or so."

He chuckled at that, "Thanks."

"Just…hurry back," she murmured.

"See you in half a heartbeat," he winked even though she couldn't see it before he stood, "Good luck everyone. Behave Amy," he pointed at her with a wink and a nod at the men, making her roll her eyes, ever since he'd found out she was a kissogram he seemed to think she wanted to kiss every attractive man around her…though he seemed to conveniently not notice that the most attractive man (to her) that she wanted to kiss the most was the one she was travelling with, "Do not let Kenzie open her eyes."

"I'm not a child Doctor," Mac cut in, "Or a human, I know what's at stake if I look. I'm not going to open my eyes."

"Oi!" Amy frowned at that human remark but couldn't really say anything against it, if it had been her…she was sure there would have been something that would happen that would make her want to open her eye, like if the Angels attacked and the soldiers were screaming, she'd need to open her eyes to see what was going on. So…for Mac to say she wouldn't open them at all? She doubted that would actually happen, but Mac seemed rather calm and collected now, she was starting to breathe easier so who knew, maybe she could.

"Keep watching the forest," the Doctor pointed at the soldiers, "Stop those Angels advancing. Kenzie, I'll see you soon. Amy, later," he tapped Amy on the head, making her pout and roll her eyes, Mac had gotten quite a few hand squeezes and a touch to her face and all she got was a tap on the head, "River," he called as he stepped out into the forest, "Going to need your computer."

"Yeah," Amy sighed, "Later."

"He'll be back," Mac reached out to blindly pat Amy's leg, having been aiming for her hand, "Likely with the army of Angels after him."

Amy chuckled at that, "Seems like h…" she trailed off suddenly though when she saw the Doctor step back out of the forest, his tweed jacket on, "Doctor?" she frowned.

"How are you Kenzie?" he asked, kneeling down before her.

"I'm f…" she cut herself off when he touched her hand, "What did you do?" she frowned at him instead.

"Spoilers," he held a finger to his lips though she couldn't see, "I just…wanted to tell Amy something," he remarked, turning to look at Amy though he kept his hand firmly grasping Mac's, "Amy, you need to start trusting me, it's never been more important."

"But you don't always tell me the truth," Amy pointed out.

He smiled at that, "If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."

"Doctor," Amy hesitated, "The crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out," he squeezed Mac's hand again, "Now, listen. Do you remember what Kenzie and I told you when you were seven?"

"What did you tell me?" Amy shook her head, though even Mac looked confused by that.

"Doctor…" Mac began warningly, her mind flashing back to Mars and what had come of telling Adelaide more than she should have known.

"It's alright," the Doctor whispered to her, lifting the hand he was holding to kiss it lightly, "I've gotten better," he promised, "That's not the point Pond," he continued to speak to Amy, "You have to remember," he stood up, offering Mac one more squeeze of the hand, before he dropped a kiss to the top of Amy's head and moved back to the trees.

Amy stood quickly, "What is it?" Mac frowned, feeling the sudden shift.

"Nothing," Amy murmured, "Sorry, no, it's nothing," she shook her head and slowly at back down, "Just…thought I saw you over there for a moment."

Mac nodded slowly to herself, "Well, can't be me," she shrugged, reaching out and managing to take Amy's hand this time, "I'm right here."

Amy let out a long breath and looked around, silently observing the soldiers for a minute or two, all four of them intently focused on the forest, "So…" she called out, "What's happening? Anything happening out there?" she tried to lean over, tried to see farther into the trees, but from her angle and position on the ground, all she could make out was just trees, no Angels.

"The Angels are still grouping," Marco reported, glancing up when the lights of the trees start to flicker, "Are you getting this too?" he glanced at a fellow soldier.

"The trees?" the man called back, "Yeah."

"What's happening with the trees?" Mac asked Amy.

"Um…it looks like the Angels are trying to turn the trees off," Amy frowned, listening to the men call essentially that back and forth to each other.

"Wonderful," Mac muttered, before reaching in her pocket and pulling out a few glow sticks, handing some to Amy, the girl tossing two to Marco and the next closest soldier.

"Angels advancing, sir!" one of the farther soldiers called.

"Over here, again," another added.

Marco nodded, "Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it!" he tensed, Amy squeezing Mac's hand, both of them able to hear them shouting about how the Angels were moving in, "Keep your position…wait!" Marco gasped as a bright light appeared in the distance, a pure white light that flickered in a rather unnatural way.

"What is that?" Amy frowned, trying to see it as well, "Is the…the ship's not caught fire has it?!"

"It can't have," one of the soldiers called, "The compressors would have taken care of it. Marco, the Angels have gone!" the man gasped, turning back to the woods to see that there was no sign of the statues, "Where'd they go?"

"Wait…" Mac shook her head, "Amy, have the Angels disappeared?"

Amy watched the men, listening to their calls, "I think so," she nodded, "Or…they're running somewhere, just not at us."

"Towards the light?" Mac guessed.

"Might be."

"Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that," Marco began, signaling for two soldiers to head forward.

"The light," Mac called as Philip and Crispin disappeared into the forest, "What does it look like?"

"It's like, I don't know...a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird, sick."

Mac bowed her head slightly, as though she were looking down, and frowned deeply, that…wasn't right. That sort of feeling, the way he was describing it…but it couldn't be…could it?

"What, you think it scared the Angels?" Amy guessed.

"What could scare those things?" the second soldier wondered.

"I'll be right back," Amy whispered to Mac, before she pushed herself up and moved over by Marco, looking out at the light before she gasped, seeing the shape it was in, and hurried back to Mac, "It's the crack," she told the Time Lady, "It's the same shape! It's the crack in my wall. It's following me! How can it be following me?"

Mac just opened her eyes to say something when the other soldier called out, "Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?"

"Go for it Pedro," Marco waved him on and Pedro hurried off into the woods, "Don't get too close."

"Wait," Mac shook her head, turning her head in Marco's direction, "Have you not got a report back from Philip and Crispin?"

"Who?" Marco frowned.

"The other two Clerics," Amy blinked at him, "The ones you sent just before?"

"I didn't send anyone before."

"You did. Like Mac said, Crispin and Phillip and…"

"Crispin and who? Amy, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you."

"But before you sent Pedro, you sent…"

"Amy, don't," Mac cut in, reaching out for Amy's hand again, "He won't remember them. I doubt he even remembers Pedro by now…"

"Pedro?" Marco scoffed, "Who's Pedro?"

Amy looked at Mac, alarmed, "Mac…what's going on?"

"The crack, Amy," Mac told her quietly, "That light…it's not light, it's Time Energy. If someone gets too close to it, it can erase them from history. Phillip, Crispin, Pedro?" she shook her head, "Marco doesn't remember them because, to him, they were never born. In his mind, it's been the three of us here and that's it."

"But how come I can remember?"

"Time travel," she shrugged, "It does have some side-effects."

"Listen," Marco moved over to them, crouching before them, "I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."

"No!" Amy gasped, reaching out for him, not wanting him to be erased like the others had, "You can't. You mustn't!"

"Here," he put a small comm. in Mac's hand to hold onto, "Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"You won't. If you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you! You'll be erased from…"

"Amy stop," Mac squeezed her hand, "He won't believe you."

"I'll be back in two minutes," Marco winked at Amy before he got up and headed off.

Amy shook her head and looked at Mac, "We need to stop him!"

"Yes, because we could manage that," Mac said harshly, "He's a soldier, with a gun, I'm essentially a blind girl and you're a kissogram. He'd subdue us in an instant Amy and he'd go off on his own anyway. We wouldn't be able to stop him if we tried because he won't listen to us. If you keep going on about Pedro and the others he'll think you've lost it and he'll tie you up or something."

Amy swallowed hard, looking at the trees, seeing the sense in Mac's words, there really was little either of them could do, if they tried to stop the man, he'd push back.

"Humans," Mac murmured, "And I thought the Doctor was too curious."

"That's it!" Amy gasped, grabbing the comm. out of Mac's hand, "Hello? Doctor? Doctor are you there?"

"Amy?" the Doctor's voice called back, "Is that you?"

"Doctor!"

"Are you and Kenzie alright?"

"We're fine Doctor," Mac spoke as Amy held the comm. open, "But the Clerics are gone."

"…what do you mean they're gone?"

"There was a light and they walked into the light," Amy told him, "Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."

"No," he sighed, "They wouldn't. Kenzie…Amy, I'm sorry. I should never have left you there."

"We can't stay here Doctor," Mac added, "I think the crack might be bleeding Time Energy."

"Yes," the Doctor remarked quietly, "I think so too. Ok, you both need to come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."

"Well that would be lovely Doctor, except I can't exactly see and Amy doesn't have a map to get us there," Mac reminded him.

"Turn on the spot."

Amy blinked, "Sorry, what?"

"Just do it. Turn on the spot," Amy glanced at Mac, but shrugged and got up, turning in a circle with the comm., "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound…"

"Thank you!" Mac called as she pushed herself up, stumbling a bit but Amy steadied her.

Amy turned till the comm. sounded like the sonic before she handed Mac the comm. to hold and put an arm around her shoulder, her other hand on Mac's arm to guide her on, her eyes on the ground, squinting in the slight darkness to keep Mac from tripping on any roots or rocks…

"Amy," Mac suddenly stiffened, pressing the comm., "Look up."

Amy looked up and gasped, seeing that, in a split second of looking down at the ground…Angels had surrounded them.

"What is it?" the Doctor called, "What's wrong?"

"The Angels…" Amy breathed, "We're surrounded Doctor."

"Listen to me," the Doctor began, though they could hear a tension in his voice, "The Angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. You can still see them Amy and they'll assume Kenzie can as well. Just keep walking…please, just keep going!"

Amy nodded, "Come on," and led Mac on, getting only a few feet away before she heard rustling and spun around, "Doctor!" she screamed, "Their teeth are all sharp!" she cried, seeing that all the Angels had turned, apparently realizing only SHE could see them, and were now showing their fangs, their arms out, reaching for them, ready to attack, "Doctor!"

"River whatever you're doing, do it now!" Mac shouted…

And suddenly she and Amy disappeared in a flash of light.

~8~

And reappeared on the floor of the Primary Flight Deck, River rushing forward to help steady them as they stumbled, not expecting a teleportation, "Don't open your eyes," she told Mac quickly, "You're on the Flight Deck, the Doctor's here. I teleported you," she looked at Mac, "How did you know I was working on that?"

"I didn't," Mac smiled, hugging River tightly much to the woman's shock and delight, "But I trusted that you'd be doing something to help save us," she pulled away, "You're very resourceful."

"I learned from the best," River smiled at her, before looking over her shoulder at the Doctor, the man staring at her, stunned, and glancing at the mess of wires and controls she'd fixed using just her pocket knife, tape, and small tubing, "See? Told you I could get it working."

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you," he gaped at her.

"Oh I think there's someone else you'd rather do that to," she winked at him, seeing him blush as he glanced at Mac.

"What's that?" Amy gasped, looking up as alarms went off, missing the direction of the Doctor's gaze.

The Doctor ran to the side controls and looked at a monitor readout, "The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means...the shield's going to release!" he moved to the middle of the room as the wall before them started to lower, revealing a line of stone angels standing before them en masse, "Angel Bob, I presume," he glanced at one in the center with a comm. clutched in its hand.

"The Time Field is coming," Bob's voice spoke over the comm., "It will destroy our reality."

"If I had a penny for every enemy trying to destroy reality," Mac muttered, making the Doctor smile in spite of the situation.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "And look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time," Bob stated, "The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself or your Chosen…"

"My name is Mac!" she huffed, not seeing the Doctor beaming widely at that because…she had only corrected that she had a name, NOT that she wasn't his Chosen.

Even if she didn't realize that, it was a point in his favor he liked to think.

"Into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"Well, NOT going to throw Kenzie in there," he mock-considered it, "As for myself…hmm…yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

"Your friends would also be saved."

"Well, there _is_ that."

River shook her head and rushed over to him, "I've travelled in time," she said, her voice tight, her eyes wide, seeming frantic and alarmed that he was even considering this, "I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw_ me _in."

"Oh, be serious!" he scoffed, "Compared to me or Kenzie, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor, I can't let you do this!"

"No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're not going to die here! Please you can't! You haven't even…"

"River," Mac called, her voice FAR too calm for someone who River knew did NOT want to be the last of her kind faced with the other 'last of his kind' about to throw himself into a crack in time, "Get a _hold_ of yourself," Mac told her, leaning back and grabbing onto a small rail behind her, taking Amy's hand with her.

"Oh, you genius!" River beamed as the Doctor just winked at her.

"Sir," Bob called, "The Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."

"Thing is, Bob," he mock-winced, "The Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels..." he grinned, "Night-night," and turned to grab a rail bolted to the edge of the control panel as well just as the gravity cut off and the Angels flew back towards the crack as they were sucked towards it, all of them falling into it and snapping the crack shut.

~8~

Mac stood near River a moment, looking at the woman intently, thinking about what the Doctor had told her as they'd quietly conversed before he'd gone to check on Amy as the girl sat on a rock, staring at the ocean. Octavian had perished, an Angel had gotten him. The Doctor had given the man her mirror to hold the Angel off till he was safely inside the Flight Deck, but Octavian had been killed. Not before he'd imparted a fair deal of warning to him about River. The woman was apparently in Stormcage, a facility for some of the worst criminals in the Universe, for murder of a very beloved man. He'd warned the Doctor that if he cared for his safety, for HER safety, to not trust River, because neither of them know who or what she was…

But she just couldn't help it, she…she DID trust River. The River they knew in the Library, the woman who gave her life for them, how she acted, the things she let slip…it seemed like, to her, they were all so close, that they would drop anything to come and help her if she needed them. They would NOT do something like that for someone they wouldn't come to trust. And…she knew their names. She'd whispered each of their names in the other's ear.

That was a secret they trusted to hardly anyone, nearly no one now, just each other.

"What is it?" River called, "You've got your thinking face on," she remarked when Mac looked at her, startled.

Mac shook her head and stepped closer, "You know Old High Gallifreyan," she began.

"Yes I do," River nodded, "You and the Doctor taught it to me."

"And you were able to learn it?" THAT was impressive.

"I'm clever," River shrugged.

"You are," Mac nodded, "Very clever. I won't be getting anything out of you about who you are, will I?"

"Not a chance," River laughed, "Sorry."

"Spoilers."

"Spoilers," River nodded, "But…I…have a message from someone, that I promised I'd give you if I saw you again."

"What?" Mac frowned, unable to think of what that could be or who it could be from.

"Teddy says hello."

Mac stiffened and stared at River, "Teddy as in…"

"Your son," River smiled, "Yeah."

"He…" Mac swallowed hard, "He's alive?"

River nodded, "He made me swear on HIS hearts that I'd tell you the very next time I saw you, no matter where you were in your timelines and…I think I could manage that."

"You met him?"

"I ran into him, yeah," she laughed, "Could tell from the second I saw him he was yours. You…you told me about him once. A long time ago and in the future."

Mac looked down a moment, before she started to smile, "And he's ok?"

"More than ok. Having a blast exploring the Universe. You might just run into him one day."

"Where?"

"Spoilers."

"River please," Mac looked at her, feeling a small desperation in her, "He's…he's my son. He's…my baby boy," even though he was full grown the moment he was created, she just…he was her child, he was her baby, "He's the only child I've had since…" she swallowed hard.

"Since your first life," River murmured gently, "I'm so sorry about that Mackenzie."

"You know…I didn't even get to hold it," she remarked quietly, "It was too small, arely there, couldn't even tell the gender."

River looked at her intently, her gaze flickering to the Doctor and Amy as they started heading over, "You may get to hold a baby in your arms one day though."

Mac smiled at that, knowing that, with all the adventures the Doctor had, there might be a chance one would involve a baby at one point or another, "But it wouldn't be my child."

"You know what you should do," River remarked quickly, "Go find Rory. I think Amy would enjoy having her husband with her."

Mac looked at her, "So she DOES marry him?"

River shrugged, "She may need a bit of a nudge," she glanced at the Doctor and Amy, "The Doctor…blots things out, makes people forget the important things, Amy may need a reminder of what's really important."

Mac frowned at that, seeing a sort of concerned look on River's face and followed her gaze to the Doctor and Amy as they walked over, Amy 'casually' bumping against the Doctor as she walked.

"You, me...handcuffs," River greeted the Doctor as he reached them, holding up her hands which were cuffed in high-tech cuffs, "Must it always end this way?"

"What now?" the Doctor looked between her and Mac.

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed a man."

River stiffened, swallowing hard, tears appearing in her eyes, "Yes. I did. A good man. A very good man. The best man I've ever known."

"Who?"

"It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told," she sighed, "It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well," she hesitated, "I gave Mackenzie one, I suppose it's only fair to give you one as well," she smiled, "You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica?" he scoffed, "That's a fairytale."

"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all?" River smirked, "I'll see you both there," she nodded at him and Mac.

"We can't wait," Mac smiled back, feeling…both peaceful and a little worried with all that River had told her and hinted at.

"I remember it well."

"Bye. River," Amy offered, feeling a bit left out.

River's smile tensed a little, seeing Amy stepping next to the Doctor, a little too close than was proper but he didn't seem to notice as he was looking at Mac in concern, the Time Lady yawning widely, still worn from her fight with the now-non-existent Angel in her mind, "See you Amy," she looked down as the cuffs beeped, "Oh! I think that's my ride."

"Can we trust you, River Song?" the Doctor asked, tilting his head at her as he eyed her closely.

"If you like," she shrugged, "But where's the fun in that?" she gave a small chuckle before her teleport kicked in and she disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Mac smiled softly at that and turned around to look at the waves crashing on the sand, glancing to the side when she felt the Doctor lightly put an arm around her waist as she swayed, shifting so that she could rest her head on his shoulders, letting her eyes drift closed a moment, just…enjoying the gentle and soothing sounds around her. On Gallifrey, she and the Doctor would sometimes sneak away and just go places to relax when school got to be too much for them. He preferred lying in the fields, listening to the wind blow through the trees making the leaves rustle like a song. She was more a fan of going to the ocean and sitting on the sand, listening to the musical waves splashing on the rocks and crashing around her. That was her most favorite sound, the waves.

"What are you thinking?" she heard Amy ask, though her voice sounded far away and she could tell she was starting to drift off, far too worn from this whole adventure.

"I'm thinking…" the Doctor began, before she felt herself being scooped into his arms, "It's time for someone to get some sleep…"

And that was the last thing she heard before her world went black.

~8~

The Doctor smiled as he laid Mac down in her bed, fully clothed in her dress and cardigan, though he'd taken her shoes off for her, and tucked her in. He brushed her side bang from her face, the back of his fingers trailing along her cheek as he just looked at her a moment. She was utterly exhausted, that much was clear. The effort of keeping the Angel from taking hold of her mind coupled with the strain of trying to climb through the flight deck while the gravity was off had done a number to her. But now she had a chance to rest.

"Sleep well Naery," he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, smiling widely when he saw the smallest of smiles appear on her face for his effort.

He turned and slowly made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him and heading for the console room, only to see Amy was still there, sitting on the jump seat with her arms crossed.

"I want to go home," Amy said, getting right to the point.

He looked down a moment and nodded, "Ok."

Amy just smiled and got up, bounding over to him as he moved to the console, "No, not like that! I just…" she took a breath, "I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

He glanced at her and frowned, wondering what could be so frightening and terrible that she, the brave little Amelia Pond, would run away, before he pulled a lever, intent to find out and help her…

Not knowing just how much he was going to regret doing that.

A/N: O.M.G. you have NO idea how excited I am for Vampires ^-^ Yay Rory! :D

Some notes on reviews...

I can say that River won't be his sister or Granddaughter, only because Clara was his sister in the HOTS and granddaughter in TAS :) For TLC she's more like LJ's best friend so like an unofficial daughter sort of :) Mac actually doesn't have a special ability :) I think she has a little bit of a talent for making her little creations though :) I have a note up on my profile about the spinoffs, they will be officially resumed in May, I graduate then and I'll have much more time to write :)

I can't say when/if Teddy'll be coming, we got a nice little hint for him being alive here though ;)

Oh Amy will get a BIG taste of her own medicine VERY soon ;) I can say that Mac won't adopt a child nope, I can't wait to reveal who River is to the Time Lords :) Only have about a month to find out :)

I've heard RTD had a reason for making PC Caecillius and Frobisher and Moffat asked if it would still work with him being 12 now and he said yes :) I hope they put that in the show and don't make us wait 3 series to find out :) I can't say what'll happen in TIA though, we'll have to wait and see :)

I'm sorry your uncle's going through a midlife crisis too :( My dad's midlife crisis consists of buying 3 racecars, 1 custom-trailer, and then bankrupting the family when the trailer caught fire, selling the 3 race cars...and then buying ANOTHER one in a second attempt at living out his dreams of being a NASCAR driver vicariously through my brother and having 'something the whole family will enjoy' despite the fact everyone BUT him flat out said 'We HATE racing' when he asked us if it would be a good idea to try again :( -sigh- He keeps putting more and more money into his racecar and fixing up its little rundown trailer that we could be using to try and get back on our feet financially instead of living paycheck to paycheck (and taking mine and my brother's paycheck to boot). At least 1 good thing will come of it, he's going to give me and my siblings such a complex about money and financial security that we'll probably end up saving more than spending in the future :)

I can say we'll see quite a bit of reaction about the kiss in Vampires :)

And a very Happy (belated) Birthday to The Yoshinator! I hope your day was utterly fantastic! :)


	7. The Vampires of Venice

The Vampires of Venice

The Doctor jumped up, popping out of a paper cake in the middle of one Rory Williams' stag night because Amelia Pond was getting married to the boy, and he wasn't even the good looking one, but the other one. On top of that she'd tried to kiss him! And that was NOT what he wanted, at all, ever, no. He'd been completely honest in that Mac was the only one he ever really wanted to kiss and be kissed by. So he'd pushed Amy away every time she tried to climb on him or grab him or kiss him. He honestly didn't know how it had happened, really, he'd been sitting beside Amy in her bedroom as she wanted to show him her wedding dress and tell him she was getting married in the morning. He probably should have paid a bit more attention to what Amy was saying, in hindsight, but he'd gotten distracted. The sight of her wedding dress had made him think of his own wedding, had led him to imagine it all but with a very different woman walking towards him down an aisle. He kept going back and forth in his mind from a human idea of a wedding and the Gallifreyan version, still with Mac there with him.

That had likely been his undoing, imagining all that while Amy had been trying to talk to him…because the next thing he knew she'd been trying to climb on him and kiss him. He'd scrambled back, of course, but Amy kept coming, something about nothing long term and how he must be lonely, even after he tried to tell her that he was 907, that Mac was 917, that she was human, that it wouldn't work even if he felt anything for her like that. He'd had to physically push her away in the end and tell her that if she tried to kiss him again, he'd leave her there on Earth, in her bedroom, on the night before her wedding. THAT had gotten through to her…which alarmed him because she should have been happy, thrilled, to be getting married and yet Amy had just held up her hands and stopped…she was really that desperate to keep travelling apparently.

He'd just shaken his head at her and grabbed her arm, saying they were going to find Rory.

Amy had been understandably scared, that he'd tell Rory what had happened. And he was. He had been all too aware of what Mac had been through with her husband, and for Amy to be heading for the same sort of life of infidelity as the man before she'd even wed Rory? It was appalling to him. And the thing that truly bothered him, that truly made him sick to his stomach…

Was that Amy hadn't even considered his rather obvious feelings for Mac.

…or at least he was quite sure that his own interactions with Mac made it clear to others how he felt for her. But then again, Mac herself didn't seem aware so perhaps Amy didn't either?

He would have to step up his game, so to speak, as the humans said.

But still, that was really bothering him, if Amy had been able to land a single kiss on him…he'd be no better than Mac's husband in betraying her trust. Even if she didn't realize what he felt for her or even if she wasn't aware she may feel something for him (he really, REALLY hoped she felt something for him), even if she didn't put stock in the repeated claims that they were future Chosens by all their enemies and allies alike…HE consider it to be fact. He considered her his Chosen, unofficially at least, and he wanted to act like a Chosen was meant to act, be as loyal as they were expected to be. To him…Mac was it, he was hers and the fact that Amy had been trying to kiss him…it could have jeopardized everything. She could have destroyed every hope he had of being with Mac if the woman found out he and Amy had shared a kiss…even though he made sure they had NOT.

And that was the last straw, he was getting Rory, he was brining Rory along, and he was going to tell the man what his fiancé had done. Best for the man to know going in the sort of woman Amy was than to find out after they were joined for all eternity…or however long humans lasted. He knew that Rory likely knew what Amy was like, knew she was an extreme flirt given she was a kissogram, but what Amy had been suggesting they do, on the night before her WEDDING no less, was FAR from simple flirting or kissing.

He may be oblivious, but he was rather certain that Amy had been inviting him to her bed for (what he believed the humans called) a one-night stand.

The fact that the 'night' in question had been the one before her wedding was just…he couldn't even find the words to describe how disappointed he was in Amy and how much he was reviled by the mere thought of doing something like that to Rory. He may have poked fun at Rory a little, but he could tell that Rory was a good man, he was a decent bloke, and he loved Amy very much. To have Amy willing to do that to him?

No. He was not going to sit by and let it happen. It may or may not be something he had a right to tell Rory, but HE had been one of the parties nearly involved, it was RORY's fiancé (and HIS companion), and his own 'Chosen' had suffered through infidelity in the past and he'd rather someone tell Rory or warn him than for the man to walk in on Amy with another man…though he was very much hoping that there wouldn't be any other man and that it was a simple one time, obsession, 'get it out of the system' thing with just him. Better him, a man who had NO interest in that at all, than another man who'd take her up on her offer.

"Rory," the Doctor greeted as the boy just stared at him, wearing a red shirt with a heart in the center that had him and Amy on it, the rest of his friends, dressed in similar shirts, falling quiet as they saw he was not the stripper that he'd borrowed the cake from outside, "Good, I thought I might have gotten the cake wrong, again," he glanced down at it and then to the back door, "Um, there's a girl outside in a bikini. Could you lot go get her? Maybe? Yes? ALL of you?" he waited but no one moved, "Rory," he gave the boy a pointed look, "We need to talk about your fiancé in private…she tried to kiss me," he winced as everyone gasped, "And that wasn't quite private was it? Sorry…"

He sighed and looked at Rory, who was just staring as though his entire world had fallen apart, "What?"

The Doctor swallowed hard, seeing one of the men off to the side slipping 5 quid to another man and winced, apparently Rory was not the ONLY one who knew what sort of personality Amy had. It really bothered him, more than before, to see that they may have possibly had bets going about the length of Amy and Rory's marriage and decided…he'd make sure it lasted forever.

"Come on," he hopped out of the cake and moved over to Rory, slinging his arm over the boy's shoulders an turning to lead him out, "We're going to fix this."

~8~

The Doctor was sitting in a hanging harness attached to the underside of the TARDIS's glass floor, keeping his head down and focused on his work as he knew Amy was prowling around above him and he did NOT want to look up and see that. Not at all. That was just eww no matter who was above him, it was rude and vulgar and offensive, at least to him. And it helped to have an entire level between him and Amy. He knew it was probably rather unfair to lead Rory into the box, get it in the Vortex, essentially kidnap him, and then run off to the lower level. But he really had two options, either go down to the lower level so he was still in the room and not about to let the humans touch the console and get them blown up…or run off into the TARDIS and find Mac and hide in her room till the row he was fearing went off between the humans.

He very much wanted the second, if just to be with Mac and away from Amy, but he knew that the console was like candy to a human and their curiosity.

And he wanted to let Mac sleep.

The only problem was, he knew that most humans didn't want to make a scene in front of others so he knew that the discussion between the future-Ponds would likely not happen with him in the room.

And he was in the room with Amy.

"The life out there, it dazzles," he began to say, if just for something to try and soften the blow to Rory and explain Amy's actions, even if he knew that Rory was likely not listening, the man seemed rather stunned by the TARDIS, "I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans," he flinched as there was a small explosion before him, "Oh! It's meant to do that," he waved it off, not even looking up to know Rory was looking down, "Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it WILL tear you apart. So...I'm sending you somewhere. Together."

"Whoa!" Amy called, "What, like a date?"

"Who's going on a date?" Mac's voice drifted down to him.

"Kenzie!" he jumped off his harness…getting partially tangled in it and falling to the ground for a moment before pushing himself up and scrambling up the stairs, ignoring Amy as he rushed over to her, "What are you doing up? You ought to be sleeping!"

Mac laughed, "I just needed a nap," she told him, "And I felt the TARDIS thump before and wanted to see what was going on…Rory!" she cheered, spotting him as she turned her head and headed over to him, "How are you?" she smiled, giving him a hug, "I hope this doesn't sound rude, but what are you doing here?"

"Amy kiss the Doctor," Rory said quietly, his head slightly bowed so he couldn't see the Doctor frantically shaking his head and making cutting motions at his neck to try and stop him.

The Doctor let out a breath when he saw Mac stiffen, and closed his eyes, rubbing his head, that was NOT how he'd wanted her to find out what Amy had TRIED to do. HE had wanted to be the one to tell her, he had wanted to be open and honest and tell her the moment he saw her that Amy had tried to kiss him and he'd pushed her back. SO she would know he was honest and loyal and not at all like her husband…he'd been a bit distracted admittedly by seeing her awake so soon, but now Rory had open that can of worms.

Mac frowned as she looked at Rory a moment, hoping he was joking and…not entirely sure who she was hoping he was joking more for, him…to think that Amy would do that to him the night before his wedding, or…or her…that the…that the Doctor might…

No, no it was more for Rory, she was sure, she was hoping that Amy hadn't done that to him.

She turned slowly to look behind her, frowning, disappointed…

And instantly the Doctor moved over to her, taking her hands, "I didn't kiss her back," he swore, crossing his hearts, looking at her intently, before he glanced at Rory, "I _didn't_."

"You were sending them both on a date?" Mac asked slowly, really hoping it was Amy and Rory and not Amy and…

"Anywhere you want," he looked at Rory and Amy, "Any time you want," and then to Mac, "And I've got the perfect place," he nodded, stepping past her and to the console, Mac moving beside Rory to rub his arm comfortingly, the boy still silent, "Think of it as a wedding present," he added.

"I'm sorry Rory," Mac murmured to him, speaking quietly, trying to keep him distracted as Amy slowly headed down the steps and up to the console to follow the Doctor, more trying to find out where they were going than anything, "I…I know how it feels."

Rory looked at her a moment startled, "You do?"

She nodded, "My um…husband," she told him, "Took a mistress, had children mostly because I couldn't. I _can't_," she corrected.

"I'm sorry," Rory added back, realizing that…it was actually worse for Mac than him, at least when Amy decided to cheat on him, it was before he'd married her. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard at that because…DID he want to marry her anymore? He always knew that Amy was a flirt, being a kissogram, she clearly favored kissing other men but him, she'd wanted to watch the Doctor strip, she'd been obsessed with the man for more than a decade…

He'd asked her once, why 'Kenzie' was 'Kenny' to her after meeting Mac. At first he'd thought it was because Amy had told him Mac was a boy to make him more willing to play 'Nurse' to her 'Doctor' but he was starting to think that, as she got older, she just didn't want to think that there had been a girl travelling with the Doctor for all those years, the two of them alone for more than a decade. Amy had all but admitted to him that she liked the idea better of two men traveling together, brothers or best friends, instead of a male and female. NOW he was realizing it was because she didn't want to think of what the Doctor and Mac were getting up to. In her mind, replacing Mac with a boy was an easier way to remember it, it meant that, if the Doctor came back, there would be a chance for her.

And she'd certainly taken it, hadn't she?

Could he…could he really trust her now? She'd toned down her kissogramming a little after he'd proposed, but that didn't amount to much. Their engagement was rather short, only a couple months. He had been happy with that at first, had convinced himself it was because Amy loved him and couldn't wait to marry him, it had warmed him so much to think that. And he was ok with it because that meant Amy would be his sooner rather than later. Now though he was starting to fear that, perhaps, she'd been so 'eager' because she doubted she'd be able to go through with it if she waited too long. On the way over, the Doctor had essentially told him that it had been MONTHS to Amy…and the man had only JUST found out Amy was marrying him just then. Months, months Amy had been with the Doctor and hadn't said a word to him about marrying him? Months she'd been gone and hadn't thought to wait the single night to marry him first? She'd run off without a single look back and it hurt to think that, if whatever situation had arisen where the Doctor found out about Amy's upcoming marriage had never happened…Amy would still be out there for months, maybe even years, and he'd never know. She'd have been running from their wedding as long as she wanted…

And he was scared to think of how long it would have been before she'd come back…if she even would come back.

Mac shrugged, "There was no love between us Rory," she remarked, "But it still hurt though."

Rory looked at Amy, watching her following the Doctor, and had to wonder…was there any love between them either? He loved her, he had since he'd been a child, he'd done all he could to be there for her, support her, save her from trouble. He'd believed her about the Doctor, he'd played 'Kenny,' he'd helped her with her rather troublesome friend Mels, he'd gone into medicine to be a Doctor for her, he looked away when she wanted to be a kissogram, put up with all her long, long, long, long, LONG talks of the Doctor, and…he'd asked her to marry him despite that…yet she did that? On the night before their wedding?

Amy was a virgin. He knew that, he had asked Mels about it even and she had told him the truth, Amy came close a few times (he did NOT need to know that one of those close calls had been Jeff though) but Amy hadn't done anything completely with anyone. And it killed him so much more to know that on the night before their WEDDING…Amy was going to…with the Doctor and he…his future WIFE was about to do that before HE married her?

What went on in Amy's mind for it to be ok for her to sleep with the Doctor one night and then the next night with HIM? What would ever make her think it would be ok to do that and then get MARRIED to someone else? What would make her think that he'd even want to marry her if she'd truly done that?

…WAS she planning to even go through with the wedding after that night if it had happened?

God this was just a nightmare!

"Want me to tell you a bit about the TARDIS?" Mac asked, trying to get his mind off what had happened, she got the feeling, from how he was reacting that it was MORE than just a kiss that was being discussed…there was something else going on, Rory would be heartbroken that Amy kissed someone, but the way he was reacting…she felt like Amy was going to do more than just kiss the Doctor in that case.

"No," Rory shook his head, "I um…I get it, actually, it's another dimension in here."

"How do you figure that?" she started to smile.

He shrugged, "After Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories; FTL travel, parallel universes."

"Thank you Rory," she laughed.

"For what?" he looked at her.

"NOT saying 'it's bigger on the inside.'"

"So, this date," Amy began as she made it around the console, "I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?"

Rory was silent thought, only shrugging his shoulders and Amy actually looked a bit worried, Rory going quiet only happened when he was really upset.

"Don't worry," the Doctor looked at them all, "We're going somewhere romantic," he winked at Mac and pulled a lever, sending them off.

~8~

The Doctor threw open the doors and stepped out of the TARDIS, right into the middle of a busy market just beside a lovely canal, people rushing about around him in period outfits and giving no notice to him as he threw out his arms, "Venice!" he beamed, spinning around to face the others as they stepped out of the box, "Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding... constantly...just beautiful," he moved over to Mac, taking her hand, "Doesn't hold a candle to you," he winked at her, "Oh, you gotta love Venice," he grinned, "Perfect place for a date," he glanced softly at Mac.

Mac nodded, "Amy and Rory will love it."

"Yes!" he pointed at her, starting to stutter, blushing, "Right, yes, _Amy and Rory_ will love it."

"Are you alright Doctor?" Mac looked over at him.

"Yes, of course I am, why wouldn't I be? We're in Venice! It's all, you know, romantic and…dinners and…wine…and…that's a date, right? Yes? That's what a date is?"

"Yes…" she said slowly, eyeing him oddly.

"Good, brilliant," he grinned, "Let's start dating. I mean Amy and Rory!" he winced, "No, I mean, Amy and Rory dating, not…not _us _dating _them_…"

"I wouldn't mind dating Rory," Mac shrugged, "He's lovely," she added, walking past him, not seeing him start to scowl at the poor human boy before he rushed after her.

"You know, you seem rather fond of him for him being a human," he remarked, recalling how she often said that humans had to grow on her.

"We are similar," she shrugged, "Betrayed by the ones we were tied to."

"Kenzie, I'm sorry…" he repeated, looking at her earnestly, "I explained why I…"

"I wasn't speaking of YOU Doctor," Mac interrupted, giving him a small smile, "I forgave you," she reminded him, "I understand why you did it, you didn't betray me, not like I did you."

"You never betrayed me," he started laughing, shaking his head at that.

"I didn't trust you," she countered, "Like I ought to have done. I thought the worst in you when I knew the reasons I was imagining were NOTHING like you at all."

"I didn't really make it easy for you NOT to think that though."

"Still," she took a breath, "I can understand what Rory's feeling…even if the betrayal against him was stopped, the fact it would have happened if…"

"Never," he cut in, looking into her eyes, a serious glint in them, "It would NEVER have happened. Not ever."

Mac nodded, "Amy wanted it to though," she sighed, "And that's more than enough for the betrayal to feel real to him. I can empathize."

"So…you're not fond of him because you…think he's attractive?" he fished.

Mac rolled her eyes at him, "He's fair enough for a human, but he's no Casanova."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he quickly checked his watch, "1580," he let out a breath of relief, "That's alright. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years. Don't want to run into him."

"Why not?" Mac frowned, seeing him starting to fidget.

"No reason!" he said quickly, moving to drape an arm around her shoulders, "Absolutely no reason at all. Has nothing to do with the fact he prefers gingers, not at all. No."

Mac frowned, "Are you worried he'll try to seduce Amy and make all this worse?"

He blinked and stared at her a moment, "Yes…I'm worried he'll steal AMY away," he nodded, a little relieved she'd gotten that wrong, he'd made a right old mess of even letting Amy get close enough to try and kiss him, he want to risk revealing too much about WHY he'd been so distracted…but then again, this WAS Venice, he was bound to get a bit distracted, he was sure, "Also, I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory asked as he and Amy made it over to them as they stood nearer the canal, only catching the tail end of the conversation.

"Long story," the Doctor waved it off, "We had a bet."

"I would like to hear that story later Doctor," Mac told him.

"I'll tell you over tea then," he nodded, "Anything for you."

Mac shook her head and looked around, "Shall we go see the city then?"

"Yes," the Doctor smiled, taking her hand and tugging her off towards a set of stairs, the humans following after.

Only for a man in dark, official looking clothes to step out before them, blocking the way, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

The Doctor moved to pull the psychic paper out, about to hand it over, when Mac snatched it from his hands, catching a glimpse of what it said about who they were, and concentrated a moment before handing it to the official herself, "Sorry," she offered the man.

The man eyed the paper before his eyes widened and he bowed deeply to them, "I am so sorry, Your Holiness," he said to the Doctor, "My Lady," he added to Mac, giving Amy a bit of a disturbed look, before he added a final bow to Rory, "Your majesty. I didn't realize."

Rory blinked and took the paper back, blinking again as he saw who they all were. The Doctor was apparently the Pope, Mac the Duchess of York, and he…he was the Prince of England!? But what truly shocked him was what Amy was listed as.

"No worries," the Doctor nodded the man off, "You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens," the man stated, making the aliens glance at each other and back at him, "Visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"The plague!" Rory gaped.

"Not quite," Mac whispered to him, squeezing his arm in reassurance.

"Don't worry, my Prince," the official chuckled, "No, we're under quarantine here, no one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri!" he tapped the crest of a box he was carrying, a rather large and very obvious crest.

"How interesting," the Doctor eyed the box, "We heard the plague died out years ago."

"Not out there," the man shook his head, "No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said!"

"Did she, now?" he glanced at Mac, both of them thinking the same, what reason would she have to lie about that?

Amy reached out and snagged the psychic paper from Rory's hand as the official walked off, letting out an offended gasp, "This says I'm a feral child!"

"Oh, does it?" Mac asked, mock-innocently, "Sorry."

"Let's go this way!" the Doctor pointed, tugging Mac on quickly, cutting off any remark Amy was about to give to that.

He rushed them up and down the streets of Venice till they reached the main canal, seeing a group of people gathering along it, watching something on the other side. They moved over to join the crowd along the edge of the canal and spotted a line of girls in white gowns on the other side walking in procession.

"What do you think?" he looked at Mac as she frowned at the women, seeing a man rushing among them, lifting the veils over their faces, looking for someone, "Think you might ever wear something like that?"

"What, a dress?" Mac asked, "I'm wearing one now," and indeed she was, her typical dress was red and white stripped this time, with a red cardigan and red shoes.

"I meant a white dress," he looked meaningfully at her, "I think you'd look lovely in one."

But Mac was distracted as the man was shoved away by one of the girls and another man stepped on his chest to keep him down till the girls walked off, "I dunno," she murmured, "I'm rather a fan of color…"

"Still, white gown…" he tried again, before sighing, seeing she was far too focused on the girls and looked over to see the man being dragged and shoved away by guards…one of the girls looked back at him and he SWORE he could see sharp, pointed teeth, like fangs, in her mouth.

He didn't even need to say a word, merely squeezed Mac's hand he was still holding and turned to tug her off, the two of them wanting to see what was going on, '_We should really bring Rory and Amy with us,_' Mac told him in his mind.

'_It's a date for them,_' he reminded her, '_Amy was the one who said no running this time. Give them time alone to sort themselves out._'

Mac glanced back as they rounded a corner to see Amy turn to ask the Doctor something and realize they were missing before she lost sight of them…this really WAS meant to be a date for them and they were getting married (hopefully, if they could get Amy sorted) so it wasn't like they needed a chaperone…

~8~

The Doctor and Mac slowly made their way along the side of the canal, heading for what Guido, the man who had been searching the girls, had identified as the Calvierri School. They'd caught up with the man easily in one of the narrow passage ways, asked him who the girls were and why he was trying to search for his daughter, Isabella they'd heard him shouting. He'd told them that he felt something had happened to her, something evil that was turning her into an animal like the other girls. That was ALL the Doctor needed for his curiosity to be piqued and for him to decide they should investigate. Mac had wanted to go and get Amy and Rory, warn them about anyone associated with the school, but the Doctor had reminded her once more that it was meant to be a 'date to rekindle what might have once been lost.' She'd sighed and agreed not to get the humans, wanting to keep them away from the alien or try to. He'd gone oddly quiet a moment before he'd agreed that 'yes, right, Amy and Rory shouldn't be interrupted' though he'd sounded odd saying that.

Mac shook her head, right now Guido was distracting the guards and she couldn't afford to be distracted either as they snuck along the side. She made quick work of the lock on the door, using a hairpin to pick it open. With the guards so close, they couldn't risk the sonic whirring and attracting their attention after all Guido's efforts. They'd found that the door led to a set of stone steps and quickly hurried down them, Mac with her penlight out though there seemed to be slight lighting at the bottom of the steps, a torch or two on the wall of the stone chamber at the bottom.

"Hello, gorgeous," the Doctor smiled.

Mac blinked and turned to see who he was talking to…only to see he was smiling at her reflection in a mirror on the wall, "I think you mean handsome," she tweaked his tie.

"No," he looked at her softly, running a finger along her head band, "I believe gorgeous was correct though it fails to accurately describe the utter beauty I see in the mirror."

"If you're trying to get me to forgive you about Amy trying to kiss you with flattery, it won't work," she remarked, "You said you didn't kiss her, I believe you. I'm quite cross with her for trying that and doing that to Rory, but I'm not angry with YOU Doctor."

"Good," he nodded, staring into her eyes, "But I wasn't saying that to flatter you into forgiveness."

She nodded, "Then trying to put me in a good mood to be less cross with Amy failed," she warned, the Doctor smiling and shaking his head at her, amused at how she just wasn't getting it…it was reminding him a bit of Donna and how she always failed to see the bigger picture, "I can't believe she'd do that to Rory!" she huffed, "And to you. I think you've made it quite clear that you're not interested in Amy."

"Yes," he laughed, nodding his head, "I'm not interested in AMY at all," he emphasized, trying to give her a pointed look.

But before Mac could even notice it, a chorus of feminine voices spoke beside them, "Who are you?"

They looked over, startled to see that there was a handful of girls in white dresses, like night dresses almost, standing there and they hadn't heard them walk up. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak when Mac grabbed his arm. He looked at her to see her looking at the mirror and turned…seeing the girls were NOT in the mirror. He looked back and forth between them, stunned by that revelation, "How are you doing that?" he asked them, "I...am...loving it!"

"I'm not," Mac countered.

"How can you not?" he smiled at her, "They're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter. WILL BE shorter."

Mac made the 'stop talking' motion and glanced at the girls, "WHAT are you?"

The girls just tilted their heads as one and spoke in unison again, "I'll ask you again. Who are you?"

"Why don't you check THIS out?" the Doctor whipped out his wallet, attempting to flash them the psychic paper…only to realize that the wallet he was holding was not the right one and pulled it back to see it was actually a library card his first incarnation had held, "Library card."

"Amy never gave us back the psychic paper," Mac realized, feeling a bit foolish for that.

"Let's see then," the Doctor eyed the girls, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in..." he glanced at the mirror, "Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking?" he looked at Mac for an answer.

"I've no idea what goes on in that head of yours Doctor," Mac told him dryly, though there was a bit of a strain in her voice to be so near the women as they started to advance, "What I'm think though relates to the city, barricading everyone in…"

"Leave now," the girls cut in, "Or we shall call for the steward... if you are lucky."

"Run, now!" Mac grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the stairs as the girls bared their fangs and hissed at them.

The Doctor stopped though and spun around, "Tell me the whole plan!" he called to them, but they just kept advancing, "One day that may work…"

"Hardly!" Mac scoffed.

"Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing...I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!"

"More like Halloween," Mac grumbled, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs again, the two of them rushing out and along the wall, back to the passageways and hurrying off.

"Doctor!" they heard Amy call a moment before they turned a corner and nearly ran into the girl.

"We just met some vampires!" the Doctor began to cheer, though he stepped back from where he'd almost toppled into her, keeping his distance from her.

"We just saw a vampire!" Amy said at the same time, the two of them starting to jabber excitedly over each other.

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires!"

"Amy!" Mac cut in, her voice harsh, slicing right through their excitement, "Where's Rory?"

Amy blinked, her eyes widening as she flushed and turned around to look for him, as though just realizing she'd run off ahead of him, only for Rory to run around the corner and join them a moment later.

"Rory!" Mac walked over and hugged him, before pulling away to look him over, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Amy said you'd seen vampires, did they harm you?"

"No," Rory smiled, touched at her concern, "I'm fine, it um…it wasn't US that he attacked."

Mac nodded, "Ok, we need to regroup," she turned to the Doctor, "And come up with an actual PLAN," she told him, not wanting Rory or anyone else to get attacked purposefully next time.

"Right," he nodded, turning to lead them off…but not before tugging Mac away from Rory, "Come and meet our new friend."

~8~

The Doctor, Amy, and Guido were standing at a table in Guido's home that night, looking at a map of Venice that the man had placed before them. Mac was near the fire, poking it to get it going as Rory sat on a barrel off to the side, watching, feeling a bit lost and quiet.

"As you saw," Guido began, "There's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress."

"Every fortress has a weak point," Mac called, "We just have to find one of them."

"There's a tunnel underneath it," Guido nodded, "With a ladder, and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy started to smile.

"No," the Doctor and Mac said at the same time.

Amy huffed at that, "You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in?" the Doctor guessed.

"Oh…so you know what I was going to say…"

"Are you insane?!" Rory demanded, shaking his head at Amy.

Mac looked over, watching intently as Amy rolled her eyes, seeming annoyed with Rory's well-founded concern, "We don't have another option."

"There's always quite a few options actually Amy," Mac countered.

"There you see," Rory pointed at her, "We can find another way."

"Like what?" Amy challenged.

Mac raised an eyebrow at that, "Well, for starters, we could take that gunpowder Rory's sitting on and blow a hole in the wall, or use it to blow up the doors in our way," she'd smelled it when she'd walked past it upon entering the room, at one point during the war with the Daleks, the Time Lords had considered basic guns, thinking that some of the scramblers the Daleks had wouldn't affect non-tech weapons, she would never get the smell of gunpowder out of her memory.

Rory looked down at the barrel, before he hopped off it, backing up towards the window.

"I dunno," the Doctor shifted, "I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive…"

"Yes," Mac nodded, amused, "You're far too fond of them."

"Oi!" he pouted, "No I'm not."

"You blew up Rose's job the first day you met her."

"That was an accident."

"Hardly."

"Yes, well, that was two mes ago," he defended, "New me, new opinion on things I find explosive and powerful."

"And what's that?"

"You," he offered, "Stars, supernovas, the temper of gingers…"

"What do you suggest, then?" Guido cut in, firmly believing that the Doctor was starting to make sport out of all this, "We wait until they turn her into an animal?!"

"I'll be there three, four hours tops," Amy offered.

"Amy we said NO," Mac told her.

"You're not my mum, you can't tell me what I can and can't do," Amy countered.

"You're not my companion," Mac shot back, "You're not my responsibility but I count Rory as a friend and, for the moment, you're STILL his fiancé, though I've no idea why that is given what you tried to do, so I'd rather have you remain human instead of get turned into whatever the hell those girls are!"

Amy blinked at that, startled that Mac had snapped at her like that…but also a bit…hurt. She had said that RORY was her friend and she was just…Rory's fiancé, it was like Mac didn't count them as friends anymore…

The Doctor nodded slowly, "It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go," he turned and sat down heavily on the edge of Guido's bed, taking a deep breath and wincing, "But we have to know," he looked at Mac apologetically, before turning to Amy, "We go together. Say you're my daughter."

"Doctor!" Mac huffed at the same time Rory cried out, "What?! Don't listen to him!"

"Your daughter?" Amy scoffed, looking at the Doctor, amused, "You look about nine."

"Brother, then," he offered, offering all the words he felt associated what he felt for Amy.

"Too weird," Amy shook her head, before smirking seductively, "Fiancé."

"I'm not having him run around telling people _he's_ your fiancé," Rory frowned at her.

"My god Amy, do you even realize YOUR actual fiancé is in the room?" Mac shook her head at her, disappointed, "I said it not 30 seconds ago!"

"No," Amy nodded, wincing as she realized that, "No, you're right."

"Thank you," Rory sighed.

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

Rory blinked, "Me?"

"Yeah," Amy smiled, "You can be my brother," she hopped over to Rory and rubbed his hair and head playfully.

But Rory just pulled away, frowning at her, "Why is _him_ being your brother weird, but with me, it's ok? No," he shook his head, "Why am I even considering this? This whole thing is mental!" he fell down onto a chair, "They're VAMPIRES, for God's sake."

"We hope," the Doctor reminded them.

Amy frowned at that, "So if they're not vampires..."

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?" the Doctor sighed and rubbed his head, "Alright, alright, Kenzie?" he looked at her, "Rory will take you and Amy to the school and present you to…"

"I can't," Mac shook her head.

He frowned, "What?"

That wasn't like her. She'd said this entire time that she'd prefer to stick by Amy unless they were facing Daleks, to help keep her safer as his companion, she'd raged about letting people wander off in her last body, and yet there she was refusing to go with Amy into a school full of vampires? She couldn't be that cross with Amy, no matter what she'd still want the girl safe. He'd seen it with Martha, she'd been so angry with the woman for calling him in to help with the Sontarans, but she still went to rescue her from the ATMOS factory.

"Like Amy said, Doctor, they SAW the both of us," Mac shook her head, "_You_ might be able to go in there and pass us off to the school, I doubt the girls would be there to meet with the Signora, but me? After being allowed in, I'd be surrounded by the girls and they saw ME. They would alert the Signora in an instant."

"Oh…" the Doctor blinked, "Right…I forgot about that."

THAT made much more sense than Mac not wanting to go and protect Amy.

Mac nodded, "So if you're so set on this, then you go," she waved him off, "You go with Amy, as her brother or fiancé or what have you and get her in the school. Whatever's happening, it's not instant, we get her back within a night and she'll be fine," Amy started to smirk at that, pleased Mac appeared to be coming around, "And if you fail to get in, then Rory and I'll give it a shot," the smirk on Amy's face froze when Mac moved to sit by Rory and linked her arm with his, "We can say you're MY fiancé, Rory."

"Hold on!" Amy cut in, "He's MY fiancé."

"And you claimed the Doctor for that title," Mac reminded her pointedly, "You want the Doctor, fine, but then _I _get Rory."

Rory blinked at that and looked at Mac, "You…you' actually be ok with saying you're _my_ fiancé?" that was something, is own fiancé would rather say she was his sister and a total stranger (near enough) was all for saying SHE was his fiancé instead.

"Course I am, why wouldn't I be?" she smiled at him, "You're adorable Rory."

"Even…even with my…" he gestured at his nose.

Mac's gaze turned soft at that, realizing that the boy probably hadn't gotten any compliments in his life, or not many, probably not even from Amy. And that was so wrong, Amy was his girlfriend, his fiancé, she should have been complimenting him and caring about him but…she got the feeling that Amy spent more time talking about the Doctor than Rory, probably talking about the Doctor TO Rory as well.

"Especially because of that," Mac nudged him, "You should have seen the noses the Doctor's had in the past," before whispering loudly as though telling a secret, "I'm a bit of nose girl."

"Really?" Rory smiled a little at that, his nose was the asset that most people made fun of.

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, "What's wrong with MY nose?"

Rory nearly laughed at that, realizing how jealous the man sounded.

"It's rather…ordinary," Mac shrugged, "And your chin…it's just…" she made a hand gesture that it was just enormous, "I'm not much a chin woman Doctor. And your eyebrows!"

"What about my eyebrows?" he felt them, pouting even more.

"You don't have any," Mac pointed at him.

"I do!" he defended, "They're just…delicate."

"And that's fine," Mac nodded, "Amy likes your eyebrows, I like Rory's nose. We each call the other our fiancé and everyone'll be happy."

"I won't!" he huffed, "I don't want Amy to be my fiancé!" he nearly shouted, making Amy look over, more than a bit stung at how fierce his declaration had been, but…perhaps that was just what needed to be said, "She's not my Chosen!"

"And neither am I," Mac added, "Look Doctor," she cut in as he opened his mouth to say something, "We don't have time to argue, you and Amy go in, get her into the school, fine, but we need to work out a plan of what to do after that happens. Whatever Amy is, your companion, Rory's fiancé, a feral child, she's still going to be our best chance of getting into the school undetected. We NEED this to work on the first go. So let's all calm down, and figure out how to make that happen."

The Doctor sighed, letting out a very long breath before he nodded, "I'm your _brother_, Amy," he told the girl pointedly as Amy nodded sadly, getting it.

~8~

Mac and Rory were sitting in the gondola, the Doctor ahead of them, sulking as Mac had sat down next to Rory instead of him, Guido standing behind them to guide the gondola along. The Doctor glanced back at Mac to see her arms were crossed before her, not in an angry stance, but seeming a bit chilled, it was rather cool so close to the water at night, "Here," he turned, draping his tweed jacket around her shoulders.

She smiled, "Thanks," and tugged it closer.

He beamed at seeing that, her in his jacket, it suited her, well tweed suited everyone he liked to think, before he noticed Rory's rather solemn and concerned expression, "She'll be fine," the Doctor told him.

He'd gone with Amy and presented her to the Signora, watching with interest as the woman took the psychic paper and seemed able to see through it. Still, she'd accepted Amy into the school and, with his job done, he just turned and headed off, whistling a merry tune. He'd given Amy his sonic to use, hidden in a bit of a bandage she'd tied around her leg to help her unlock anything she came across. With Mac's skills he was alright with giving Amy the sonic as he knew they'd be able to get into the tunnels of the school easily.

"You can promise me that, can you?" Rory muttered.

"Amy's a big girl Rory," Mac said, though she wasn't very happy that Amy had had to go in alone. If she had only gone with Rory and Amy as a chaperone, she'd have been able to go into the school with her. But as it stood, they had to trust that the ginger human would be ok.

"We're here," Guido called as he brought the gondola alongside the canal, by a small gate that hid a staircase behind it. The three of them quickly got out and opened the gate with a creak, heading up the stairs as fast as they could. The Doctor grabbed a torch off the wall when they reached the top, Mac lighting it with her lighter as she only had her penlight, having run out of glow sticks for the moment.

"Right," the Doctor nodded, whispering to them as he led them on, "Ok, I'll go first. Rory," he pointed at the man, "If anything happens to me, you get Kenzie out of here and…"

"What happened?" Rory cut in, "Between you and Amy? You said she kissed you."

"NOW?!" the Doctor paused before a wooden door and turned to face him, "You want to do this NOW?!"

"What better time is there?" Mac joked, mimicking his earlier words from when he'd been dangling outside the TARDIS as it was crashing, moving past the Doctor to open the door, luckily they didn't seem to think anyone would get up there from the canals and hadn't locked it. She took the torch from the Doctor and took the lead, allowing him and Rory to talk.

"I have a right to know," Rory agreed as they walked on, "I'm getting married in 430 years."

The Doctor sighed "She was frightened, she was frightened of seeing the Weeping Angels coming at her," Amy had told him that much, or at least that much had gotten through to him, according to her it was worse to be in the forest and SEE them coming than have her eyes closed and not be able to sense them around her, "We were all frightened, but we survived, and the relief of it...and so she tried to kiss me."

"And you kissed her back?"

"No," he answered, looking right ahead at the back of Mac's head, the girl a short distance ahead, trying to give them privacy, "I didn't Rory," he turned to the man, his voice low, "I wouldn't do that to Kenzie."

Rory looked at him a long moment, "You like her."

"Of course I do," the Doctor nodded, "Don't you?"

"Yeah…oh don't give me that look Doctor," Rory rolled his eyes as the Doctor's narrowed, "Not like THAT."

The Doctor let out a breath, "I…I love her Rory. I love Kenzie and I'm…I messed up a very long time ago and I hurt her. She's forgiven me but, for a time…" he shrugged, "She was angry and she started to not-love me. But now she's forgiven me and…"

"And you're trying to win her back," Rory guessed, nodding.

"Yes," the Doctor told him, "So you see? I wouldn't do that with Amy, with anyone BUT Kenzie. Getting her back means too much to me to muck it all up now."

Rory glanced at Mac's back and then to the Doctor, "You're really telling me the truth."

"Course I am," he agreed, "Rory, she tried to kiss me because I was there. It would have been you and it SHOULD have been you and that's why I brought you here…"

"If you two are done?" Mac called, "We're almost at the entrance, we need to be quiet if we don't want to get caught."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, moving over to her, "Just…stand right there a second."

Mac frowned but did so, "…why?" she asked after a moment or two of silence.

The Doctor just smiled as he gazed at her, pulling out the psychic paper to hold it up to her, happy he'd gotten it back and wanting to use it, showing her his small message, 'stunned silent by your stunning beauty.'

Mac gave him a look and nodded slowly, "Feel free to use the paper," she remarked, "Whatever keeps you quiet," before shaking her head as she turned to go.

Rory leaned forward to read the message, seeing the Doctor pout and had to shake his head as well, "Need a bit of help in the wooing department Doctor?" he joked.

'Ha ha,' the paper changed.

Rory held up his hands in innocence, "I DID manage to get one ginger girl to say yes to _marrying_ me," he reminded the Time Lord.

The Doctor blinked and the message changed again, 'Good point.'

~8~

"Push!" the Doctor complained as Rory and Mac tried to heft him up out of a well-like opening in a courtyard of the school. They'd had a rousing debate over who should go up first. Mac refused to as, for one, she was wearing a dress, and two she doubted she'd be able to pull either of them up after her even with the other helping from below. Rory had offered to go up first but the Doctor had called him scrawny and said that HE ought to go up first in case there were any of the 'vampires' there.

So they did their best to get him up and out of the well. He turned and held a hand down to Rory, pulling him up and, together, the two of them managed to grab Mac and pull her up with them, "There we are," the Doctor cheered, before looking around, seeing a particular ginger was missing, "Amy? Where's Amy? I can't see a thing."

"Here…" Mac began as she and Rory both pulled out a small penlight, "I like you Rory."

The Doctor frowned at that, "If you like that…check out this!" and pulled a large ultraviolet torch out of his coat pocket, "Ta da! Portable sunlight."

"Yours is bigger than mine," Rory frowned.

"I know," he winked, "What do you think Kenzie? Impressive yes? Yes? Impressive? No?"

Mac patted his arm, "It's a lovely light Doctor, I just prefer smaller, simpler things," before she turned and took a few steps away, shining her light around to try and see where they were.

"The offer still stands," Rory smirked at the Doctor, rather pleased to see the big impressive alien was flubbing at his efforts at 'wooing' Mac.

"What offer?" Mac headed back over to them.

"Um…" Rory blinked, this time seeing the Doctor making the cutting motions at his neck and shaking his head, "The…offer I made…to the village hall," he supplied, "For the wedding. Yes. See, if we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the hall, the salsa band..."

"Ooh," the Doctor winced, making them look over to see he'd wandered off to a small chest by a column and opened it, revealing a skeletal body lying within, seemingly like a dried out husk.

"What happened to them?" Rory frowned as they joined him.

Mac leaned down and pulled out her pocket knife, making a small incision on the wrist of the being…only for a few dry red flakes to come out, "This looks like Lazarus…" she murmured, glancing at the Doctor, "UNIT extracted the husks after he went on his rampage for autopsy. It's like that except I don't think it was the life energy but just the moisture taken out, the skin, the blood even is all dry flakes."

"So not vampires then," the Doctor murmured, "They haven't had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies…"

"Why did they die?" Rory nodded at the remains, "Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

Mac shrugged, "Maybe they're still experimenting with the process? This could be the earlier attempts, the ones that didn't survive?" she didn't want to say the other possibility, that not everyone survived the process.

"And Amy walked right in there," Rory frowned, "She was so…eager to impress you, Doctor," Rory looked at him, "She didn't want to let YOU down. Never mind the danger."

"Who are you?" the chorus of voice said from behind them.

"Oh not again," Mac huffed as they turned to see the girls from below had appeared again, "They're worse than the Cybermen with their legs on silent!"

The Doctor quickly held up his light as the girls tried to approach, "We should run. Run!" he grabbed Mac's hand and pulled her off, leading the way with Rory rushing behind, the girls giving chase down corridor after corridor.

"Do you smell that?" Mac grimaced.

"Fish!" the Doctor cheered, turning to follow the scent much like he had on Messaline, leading them right to the Signora, a young boy that the Doctor had mentioned was her son, and another man as they stepped out of a room, "Cab for Amy Pond?!" he called, glancing behind them to see the girls had stopped, blocking their way back as the Signora blocked their way forward.

"This rescue plan," the Signora smirked, "Not exactly watertight, is it?"

The Doctor just brandished the light at the girls, holding them off…when Amy, dressed in a white nightgown, and a young girl that bore a striking resemblance to Guido ran out of the room before them

"Rory!" Amy gasped.

"Amy!" Rory breathed, rushing over to hug her.

"Quickly," the girl, likely Isabella, called, turning to run back the way they'd come, "Through here!"

They quickly raced after her, through a green-lit room that had a large chair in the middle of it, and into a hallway, the girls following after them.

"They're not vampires!" Amy shouted as they ran, tossing the Doctor back his sonic as they reached a door, not having time to pick it.

"What do you mean?" Mac looked at her.

"I saw them, I saw her. They're not vampires. They're aliens!"

"Classic!" the Doctor chuckled.

"That's GOOD news?!" Rory shook his head at them, "What is wrong with you people?!"

"No time!" Mac pushed them on, "Move, move!"

_"_Keep moving!" the Doctor agreed, urging them on as he took the rear, keeping the girls and the other 'vampires' back with the light, Isabella leading the way, "Come on, guys."

"Quickly," Isabella gasped, pulling a door open, revealing steps outside, light just past the doorway, and the canal with Guido in his gondola waiting for them below, "Get out. Quick!" she moved to run after them as they passed her but the sunlight forced her back.

"Isabella!" Mac rushed back up to try and help her.

"Come on," the Doctor spun right around to assist as well, not about to leave Mac alone, "Run!"

"It's the sun!" Mac told him, "She's started to be converted," she reasoned.

Just as they reached the door to help her, Mac pulling off the jacket to try and give her something to cover herself with and escape, Isabella was pulled back inside, the door shut in their faces. The Doctor didn't stop, but ran up to the door, pounding on it…only for a course of electricity to shoot through him, forcing him to the ground.

"Doctor!" Mac ran over, catching him before he could topple down the stairs and slowly sunk to her knees, cradling him as Rory ran up.

"Is he dead?" Amy gasped.

"No," Mac closed her eyes, letting out a breath of relief when Rory said that, "He's breathing."

Mac looked down the stairs to where Guido bowed his head, knowing that there was a very real possibility he'd never see his daughter again for her efforts in helping them escape. She swallowed hard and gently set the Doctor down before she made her way over to the man, hugging him tightly, "I'm so sorry," she whispered in his ear, though she knew it would NEVER be enough, she knew that quite well.

But it was all she could offer him.

~8~

Mac was standing behind Amy, holding her hair back so the Doctor could examine the two small puncture wounds on her neck, bite wounds. The Doctor had gone to speak to the Signora while she tended to Amy, the girl had collapsed as soon as they'd gotten into the gondola and, while Rory was a remarkable nurse, the fact that the bite mark was alien, she had wanted to be there in case there were any more 'alien' side effects. She'd had to trust that the Doctor would be alright confronting the Signor on his own and he'd actually preferred to go without her this time. Given that the woman was attacking women, he didn't want to risk the Signora trying to seize Mac instead if she realized she was an alien and likely better able to survive the conversion.

The conversation he'd relayed to Mac when he'd returned had been enlightening. The woman was a Sister of the Water, an alien that look like a cross between a fish and an insect with large fangs. They were originally from the planet Saturnye and their planet had been lost via one of the cracks. They'd escaped and ended up in Venice, needing to convert the women for some reason. One part that had broken her hearts was to find that Isabella had been executed. The Doctor had seen her face and hugged her, telling her that he understood, he felt the same, and they were going to keep her from doing that to anyone else.

They just had to work out what to do next.

"You're fine," the Doctor told Amy as he flashed the sonic at her neck, closing the wounds, "Open wide," he slipped a hard candy into her mouth and moved around her as Mac let go of Amy's hair, "I need to think. Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he plopped down at the table, "Think!"

"If they're fish people," Amy tried to talk around the candy in her mouth, "It explains why they hate the sun."

The Doctor reached out, not even looking, and tugged Mac down to sit right beside him, forcing Amy to shift more to the side so she was sitting across from Guido instead of Rory, who was still on the other side of the Doctor, "Stop talking," he said to Amy, though he was looking down at the table, "Brain thinking. Hush."

"It's the school thing I don't understand…" Rory tried to say, but the Doctor put his finger on Rory's lips to quiet him.

"Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them!" Guido pounded the table.

The Doctor looked over at Mac, "I don't want to get up."

Mac laughed and patted his shoulder, "Just focus on the problem, Doctor, not the humans," he nodded, Rory rolling his eyes as Amy and Guido huffed at that, "So Saturnye was lost and the essentially fell here, yes? That's what you told me."

"Then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool," the Doctor continued, turning more to her, bouncing his ideas and thoughts off of her, "Got it. Then what? They come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do?"

"If the environment in unsuitable…change it," Mac murmured, "The Sontarans nearly did it, even Luke could have done it…"

"She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race,'" he recited, "Bend the heavens...bend...the heavens..." his eyes shot open wide, "She's going to sink Venice!"

"She's... she's going to sink Venice?" Guido gave him an odd look as though he couldn't believe that were true.

"It makes sense," Mac nodded, "And if she's converting girls to other Sisters…stands to reason she's going to try and repopulate with the girls."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory frowned, "You need... blokes."

"She's got blokes," Amy informed them, "In the canal. She said to me, 'There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water.'"

"So the Brothers and her were the only ones who survived," Mac frowned.

"She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends," the Doctor grimaced, "Ew. I mean, we've been around a bit," he looked at Mac, "But, really, that's...that's...Eww. I mean…" he was cut off suddenly by a loud thump and noise from above them, "The people upstairs are very noisy."

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido told them.

"I knew you were going to say that," the Doctor groaned, rubbing his head, "Did anyone else know he was going to say that?" Mac raised her hand and he pointed at her, "Besides you," he smiled at her, "You're too brilliant not to think that."

"Is it the vampires?" Rory asked, glancing up as the thumps began to sound like footsteps.

"They're not vampires Rory," Mac reminded him, slowly starting to stand, "Sisters and Brothers of the Water…"

This time Mac was cut off, by glass shattering right behind them, a handful of the girls trying to crawl in through the window as the other half tried to climb down the stairs. The humans jumped to their feet and backed away as the Doctor ran forward and flashed his ultraviolet light at them to stall them.

"Aren't we on the second floor?!" Rory cried, shaking his head at the women, not sure how they were even in the window.

"Sisters of the Water are part insect," Mac told him, the Doctor tossing her his sonic for her to flash at them, revealing their true appearance, "They can hover."

"What's happened to them?" Guido gaped.

"There's nothing left of them," the Doctor said sadly, "They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so...buxom," he grimaced, "Nothing on you though, Kenzie," before he winced and realized what he'd said, "Not that I'd know! Because, you know, I wouldn't do that. Look and…and…and…not…I…Ok!" he shouted, turning to grab her hand instead, stuttering too much, "Move!" he called to the others, pushing them on, "Come on."

They all ran down the stairs, the humans first, then the Time Lords, and finally Guido, "Give me the lamp," Guido grabbed the light from the Doctor and turned to flash it at the girls to slow them as they chased them down the stairs.

"Run faster!" Mac called to the humans as Amy and Rory ran out of the doors, before she pushed the Doctor on, "Go!"

"Kenzie!" the Doctor turned to try and grab her hand, "What are you doing!?"

"The gunpowder!" she pointed to the barrels.

Guido looked over at the barrels for only a moment before he shoved, nearly half tackled really, the two Time Lords out the doors and slammed it shut behind them, "Stay away from the door!" he warned.

"Guido don't!" Mac called through the door, "Let US do that!"

The Doctor pounded on the door, trying the sonic on the lock as he realized Guido was going to go through with Mac's plan, "Guido!" he looked over as Mac crouched down to pick the lock…when he heard a barrel crash to the ground and grabbed her hand, pulling her away moments before the house exploded, sending them to the ground, the Doctor landing on top of Mac to protect her from the rest of the blast. He looked down at her, panting, "You ok?"

She nodded, "You make a good shield," she told him, making him smile, "A rather HEAVY shield…"

"Right!" he quickly scrambled to his feet, helping her up, "Sorry…"

Mac just smiled and leaned in, kissing his cheek, "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled at her softly, "I won't ever let anything hurt you Naery," he promised her.

"I know," she nodded, "I'll try to keep you safe too."

He opened his mouth, about to say more when Amy and Rory ran back and were staring at the wreckage when screaming reached them from the streets. They could see people running about and the sky starting to darken, and they knew what that meant, "Rosanna's initiating the final phase."

"We need to stop her," Amy determined, "Come on!"

"Amy!" Mac reached out and grabbed her arm, "No. This is on US," she gestured at the Doctor and herself.

"Get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor agreed.

"You can't stop her on your own!" Amy argued.

"We don't discuss this!" the Doctor told her firmly.

"If we tell you to do something, it's for a reason," Mac added, "And you DO it Amy."

"You're not my mother or MY pilot," Amy countered with a bit of bite in her words.

"Keep it up and I won't be your pilot either," the Doctor threatened.

Amy shot him a glare before she turned to storm off, Rory glancing at her before turning to them, knowing what they'd done for him. He was sure part of what the Doctor had done was because of Amy's shot against Mac, but they had both started off trying to protect her from getting into danger, like he'd feared she'd do before, "Thank you."

The Time Lords just nodded, "Go keep an eye on her Rory," Mac told him and he rushed off after his fiancé, leaving them to look up at the sky, then each other, before running off.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac ran into the Calvierri school, right to the 'throne room' that the Doctor had introduced Amy in, having spotted a bit of alien tech on the chair when he'd been sitting on it before. Mac managed to get the back of it open, revealing circuitry and he started flashing the sonic to get a scan of what it was and what it did and how to turn it off.

"You're too late," a voice said and they looked up to see the Signora striding through the room, smirking, "Such determination..." she trailed off a moment, spotting Mac and raising an eyebrow at her, before focusing on the Doctor again, "Just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"Your girls failed," Mac told her, taking the Doctor's hand and holding it, knowing the remark had gotten to him.

"You're lying."

"We'd be dead if I were," Mac countered, something the Signora seemed to realize.

"Rosanna," the Doctor called as she started walking away in anger, "Please, help us. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," she sneered, striding off.

The Doctor looked at the throne, handing Mac the sonic to finish scanning as he ran over to a balcony, checking on the city, before rushing back in, only to hear Mac shouting at someone.

"We told you to go back to the TARDIS!"

He ran into the room to see Amy and Rory had joined them again, "Get out!" he agreed, "We need to stabilize the storm!" he hurried back to the throne, Mac showing him the results of the sonic's scan.

"We're not leaving you," Rory told them, realizing something along the way…Mac had been there for him, helped comfort him, been a friend to him…what sort of friend would he be in return if he just abandoned her? Maybe it wasn't people trying to impress the Time Lords, and maybe it wasn't letting down someone so 'incredible,' maybe it was just…not wanting to let down a friend.

"Right," the Doctor scoffed, "So one minute it's 'people never mind the danger around us,' the next it's, 'we're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..."

The ground shook, interrupting him, sending him to the ground, topping down and into Mac, though this time he twisted so HE was the one to land first with her on top of him, the humans falling down as well as small bits of the ceiling crashed around them.

"We must stop meeting like this," Mac murmured as he looked down at the Doctor.

"Falling for each other?" he smirked, "Not a chance. I must say though, I rather like THIS position."

"What do you know, so do I," she smiled down at him.

He started to beam, tightening his arms around her just a bit, "You do?"

She nodded, "For as heavy a shield as you are, you're a rather soft pillow."

"I'm also quite the cuddly teddy bear if, you know, you ever maybe want a cuddle," he winked at her, "I'd like a cuddle with you, I'd like that very much."

"You always were the sort to grab something and not let it go," she laughed.

"I never want to let YOU go," he told her seriously…

However his tone might have been just a bit off as Mac just shook her head, amused, and countered with, "Well you'll have to," she wiggled, "We need to stop the Signora."

"What was that?!" Rory cried as he helped Amy up.

"Nothing," the Doctor answered at the same time as Mac added, "An earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Amy frowned at them as they pulled themselves up as well.

"Earthquakes can be caused by a number of things," Mac told her shortly, "Especially aliens manipulating the elements."

"But don't worry about them," the Doctor tried to wave it off.

Though Rory especially seemed skeptical of that, "No?"

"You should worry about it," Mac gave the Doctor a look, "Because an Earthquake means a tidal wave to follow."

"Right," he sighed, he should have known she'd tell the humans about the real danger to come, "Rosanna's throne is the control hub," he turned back to it, getting to point at the reminder of the wave that was coming, "But she's locked the program, so, Kenzie," he turned to her, "You need to cut the wires and deactivate the circuits…"

She frowned but sighed, "Fine, but you'll have to shut down the secondary hub after I've done it. The controls will reroute the power to it in the event of tampering."

"Leave it to me," he winked, before turning to dash off, leaving Mac to get back to the throne and start cutting wires.

"What do we do?" Rory asked as he and Amy stepped over.

Mac glanced up, "Take a doorway," she told him, "Make sure that the Signora and none of her minions come back. If they do, give me a shout."

They nodded and rushed to do just that, Mac using the scissors of her pocket knife to cut the wires and her knife itself to pry the circuits out, snapping them in half. It didn't take all that much time, but it was enough for her to worry about the Doctor, "Come on!" she called, as she put the back of the throne in place and turned to run out of the room, the humans following after her, leading them outside and into the heavy rain to look up for the Doctor. She'd seen him rushing up the stairs and, hearing the bells of the tower suddenly stop before, she could guess where he'd gone and where the secondary hub might be.

"There!" Amy pointed, spotting the Doctor climbing up the side of the bell tower and towards a sphere at the top of it.

Mac squinted, able to see him open it and reach inside a moment later…the storm instantly stopping as the clouds parted, allowing sunlight back down to the city.

"Doctor!" Mac called up to him and he looked over at her, waving excitedly at her and pointing to the sphere before one-handedly tweaking his bowtie. She could see his smug grin from there.

"You did it!" Rory cheered, everyone in the city starting to clap and cheer for the end of the storm.

"Now get down from there before you break your neck!" Mac ordered.

The Doctor gave her a small salute and began to carefully make his way back down the tower.

~8~

The Doctor was in a bit of a solemn mood as he headed back to the TARDIS with the humans and Mac, his arm absently around the Time Lady's shoulders. He had gone to try and confront the Signora about her failed plan, offer her and her sons a way out of Venice, back to some sort of more inhabitable planet, but she'd thrown herself into the canal and to the mercy of her children. He tried to cover it up though with cheerful talk about two humans getting married…hopefully…they still weren't sure what Rory would do about it.

Finding out your fiancé had tried to kiss a man the night before the wedding was one thing.

Finding out your fiancé had tried to and been willing to sleep with another man the night before the wedding was quite another.

"Now, then, what about you two, eh?" he began, "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away. Maybe WE can get married," he turned to Mac.

But she just laughed, "We haven't even been on a date Doctor, and besides you've avoided marriage since Gallifrey, remember Elizabeth? You just want to be able to dance."

"Not true," he remarked, sticking his nose up, "I can dance any time I like, see?" before he grabbed her hand and spun he around, making a rather bad attempt at dancing that had her laughing even more…he was quite rubbish at it, this version of him.

"Then you don't have a need to get married for it," she pointed out.

"Oh I can think of another very good reason to get married besides the dancing."

"What's that?" she asked, amused.

He looked at her, smiling softly, "Love."

Her own smile turned sad, "Marriage doesn't always mean love."

"It's fine," Rory cut in, wincing at that, Mac's words hitting him though he knew she likely hadn't intended for them to affect him. It was just…he'd asked Amy to marry him, because he loved her with his whole heart. She'd said yes and he thought it was because she felt the same but…what if Mac was right? Why had Amy said yes then? If she was willing to do…what she was going to do with the Doctor…on the night right before their wedding, what did that say for how much she loved HIM? Her fiancé? He sighed, "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've..."

"Stay," Amy looked at him, "With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

Rory gave her a sad look for that though and Mac instantly knew why, Amy had said 'stay with US' not 'stay with ME.' Even now, even after all that, Amy wasn't planning to leave the TARDIS, she wasn't planning to go back and get married right at that moment, and she still considered THEM a unit with Rory needing to be invited in when Rory and HER should have been the unit instead. And Rory realized that. Asking him to stay…meant Amy was staying and even though he'd offered to cover for her, Mac knew he'd been hoping Amy would say that 'no, it's fine, let's go get married' or something that meant she wanted to go back to earth with HIM and not stay with the Doctor.

Even now Amy was still picking the Doctor over him.

"Fine with me," the Doctor nodded, rather happy that Rory might stay, maybe it would keep Amy from hounding him.

"Please," Mac added, "Please come, travel with us too."

"Yeah?" Rory responded better to that, not that he was staying like a little pet, but actually going to travel and be a part of the team, "Yes, I would like that."

"Nice one," Amy smiled, not seeming to have noticed Rory's reaction to her request and Mac's, and just kissed Rory on the cheek, "I will pop the kettle on," Mac turned and unlocked the door for her as Amy smiled at them, "Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my boys…"

"You've got your BOY," the Doctor gave her a warning look.

Amy just rolled her eyes, "BOYS," she corrected, "And my girl," she offered Mac a wink but one that made her feel like Amy was just trying to add that on the end, "My work here is done."

"We are not her boys," Rory murmured as Amy disappeared inside.

"_I'm_ not," the Doctor defended.

Mac looked at Rory intently a moment, seeing a look on his face she recognized from her own marriage, "Are YOU?" she asked him.

Rory just gave her a sad, conflicted look, before he stepped into the TARDIS after Amy.

Mac let out a long breath at that, when the Doctor spoke from beside her, "Did I do the right thing?" he wondered, "Telling him what Amy tried to do?"

Mac looked over at him and had to nod, "Believe me Doctor…it's better to hear it than to walk in and see it," she shook her head, "Seeing it makes it more real, more shattering. Hearing it…the anger isn't as strong, and for them," she nodded at the TARDIS, "There's a chance to heal."

"This was nice though, wasn't it?" he asked lightly, "Before all the running and alien-fish-vampires, it was a nice date. I…I mean, no food or…or dancing…or wine but Venice was nice."

Mac smiled, "It was a lovely date," he started to smile, "I'm sure Amy and Rory loved it even with the running."

"And you?" he looked at her intently, "Did you like it?"

She gave him a light look, "We saved Venice," she remarked, "I loved it."

He smiled widely at that as Mac stepped into the TARDIS, "Then I count it as a most successful date," he murmured to himself, he just had to get her to realize it had been a date too.

He stepped in after her, not even realizing how silent it had gotten around them.

A/N: Sorry this is late :( Internet at my house...I can't even explain it. It's like I get one page and then when I click on a tab it takes forever to load and keeps going to error webpages :( I'm in McDonalds again to use their wifi and get this chapter up :( Just for the record, I try to get notes up on my tumblr when I can if there's something wrong with the internet or FF so you know what's going on. It took me like 4 tries just to get the tumblr post up but I managed it to explain the internet issues that have been going on since the morning :(

As for this chapter...there was a bit of emphasis on Rory and his thoughts on Amy and the 'betrayal,' and Mac's ability to empathize with it, it'll be rather important later ;)

I originally had a confrontation for Amy and Mac about how Mac was a bit colder to Amy in this chapter than she's ever been to the girl...but going through it and knowing what's coming, it has much more of an impact in a future chapter than this one ;) This was more actions and fighting fire with fire (Amy wants to cling to the Doctor, Mac would hug Rory) but tomorrow will be more words over actions ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I can say that Clara will be completely human here :) I'm trying to stay away from the fob watch trick as much as I can just because I feel like they did it a little too much in the series ;)

I know RTD didn't make huge references to Classic Who, but I felt like he had more continuity within his Doctor and bridging between the two Doctors. I felt like with Moffat he just completely wiped out the Doctor's past as 9 and 10 and only wanted 11 and his new story :) I felt like Moffat was forcing 11 to forget all his past companions/adventures but that's just my opinion :) I can say that we'll be getting Amy's Choice for at least 3 future TLs (including Mac) and they'll all be...very different ;)

River won't be their goddaughter, mostly because she was the Doctor/OC's goddaughter in the Academic Series and I want a different relationship with the Doctor/TL in each story :) And that's awesome! I'm glad you're better and getting out ;)

Clara was the Doctor's 'sister' (not literally, but more how he saw her) in the HOTS yup :)

My dad gets creative. He spends his paycheck and most of my mother's on his crisis, so that it leaves the bills and mortgage payments to my check and the other half of my mother's. So if I don't help pay, we potentially end up losing our house :( We came very close to finally getting rid of his crisis, my brother (during their last fight) wanted nothing to do with his 'race team' so my dad came to within an inch of selling it, literally had someone there looking at buying the car...and my brother comes in saying it's not for sale. I wanted to kill him. I don't think my brother realizes just how much of a strain it's putting on the entire family financially, he's just seeing it as disappointing our father if he doesn't drive the car for the 'team.' My dad keeps joking that I have a lead foot and that they should let ME drive it once. I flat out told him to his face, 'Go ahead, let me in that car and I will drive it into a wall and total it, potentially break my legs or die, just to get rid of the god forsaken car' I literally told him that, that's how much I hate this race team thing...I don't think he quite got it. He's very thick.

River is still Melody Pond yup ;)

I left out the attempted kiss mostly because the story follows Mac's POV a little more than the Doctor's, mostly because she had a lot of anger and thoughts that needed justification and explaining :) I also wanted to make it more of an event the Doctor reacts to, but that Mac wasn't aware of till it was brought up as a shock to her :) I'm glad you had a good birthday :)

Speaking of birthdays...Happy 20th Birthday to Shane! I hope you have a truly amazing day :)


	8. Rory's Decision

Rory's Decision

Rory Williams smiled as he walked into the brightly decorated classroom, "Hello class," he greeted, heading for his desk at the front of the class.

"Hello Mr. Williams," came the chorus of small voices.

He gave a small chuckle when he saw a bright red apple sitting there, well, more like 15 of them, "What's this for?" he looked up at his pupils, a small group of 15 5 year olds, as he took his seat, placing his briefcase beside the desk.

He loved this, he loved this classroom. It was small but cozy, with rectangular tables set up for the kids, cubby holes to the side and bright small jackets hanging up. There was a rug in the back, a small L shaped bookshelf and a large plush chair for him to sit in, pillows on the ground for the children to sit on. There was a loo in the back, behind a door, and a crafts area to the other side. The blackboard was behind him brightly colored chalk ready to be used, with so many motivational posters and hand-drawn pictures from his students hanging up. There were crafts drying on the side of the room along a small shelf along the windows, sunlight streaming in.

It was just wonderful.

"For you Mr. Williams," the class called, grinning at him and fidgeting excitedly.

He smiled at them, "Well, thanks!" he picked one up, "You know what they say about apples don't you, you clever boys and girls?" they nodded eagerly, "And what's that?"

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," they recited.

"Very good, just brilliant," he praised, clapping his hands at that, "Best advice anyone can give you. Cos I'm sure none of you want to go see any boring old stuffy doctor eh?"

"No!" they started grimacing.

He laughed at that, "Neither do I," he nodded.

And it had never been more true in his life. Doctors, to him, meant TARDISes and time travel and aliens and danger and…Amy. Doctors meant having to deal with Amy again and that was not something he ever wanted to happen again. She'd cheated on him, the night before their wedding, been willing to lie with another man before she was going to pledge her love to HIM. She may not have gone through with it, but he'd spoken to the Doctor, he'd confronted Amy about what the Doctor had told him. The Doctor had said that Amy had tried to kiss him, repeatedly, had said he feared she may have been trying to pull (rip) his clothes off no matter how often he pulled his braces back up to stop her, and that he was concerned that it was being implied Amy wanted to sleep with him. The Doctor had been very clear that the only thing he could say for certain was that Amy had tried to kiss him, had crawled on top of him and tried it, had pushed him against the TARDIS and tried it, had even repeatedly tried to kiss him inside the TARDIS as well. The other things were his interpretation of events.

So he'd asked Amy how much of it was true…she hadn't denied any of it.

So he'd left. They'd gone to Venice, the Doctor's rather botched attempt at repairing their relationship, but all it had done was further prove to him that Amy would NEVER have HIM on the brain as much as she had the Doctor. He'd confronted Amy after that, about what the Doctor had explained to him throughout the trip…and he'd gotten the truth out of her.

He'd gone to Mac, Agent Mackenzie, and asked her to take him home, told Amy it was over, asked for the engagement ring back, and told her not to bother showing up for the wedding, that he'd take care of canceling it. She hadn't even bothered to try and argue with him, to plead with him. She'd actually had the audacity to get ANGRY with HIM! He'd just turned and left. He wouldn't lie and say he hadn't waited on the wedding day, in the church despite no one being there, at the end of the aisle before the altar to see if she'd come running in and apologize for how she'd treated him, how she'd always treated him.

Amy hardly ever noticed him, noticed how he felt for her or what he'd done for her in his life. He tried to reason that, at first, it was because Amy had thought he was gay. But the more he thought about it, the more he was realizing that maybe she just had never been interested in him to begin with. After they'd started dating, well, they'd only just been together a few months when the Doctor came swinging back into her life. They'd reached a point where she'd finally STOPPED talking about the man constantly and making pictures of him and playing games about him and writing stories about him when the man had come back. When they'd been younger she'd always wanted to be the Doctor, made him be 'Nurse Kenny' and it bothered him to learn that 'Kenny' was actually 'Kenzie' a GIRL. It hurt to realize that Amy had manipulated facts so that the Doctor wasn't out there traveling space and time with another woman who wasn't her.

It was worse when the Doctor had come back. Amy was older then, he wasn't just the funny man with the box from her child hood. Seeing him again as a more mature women…her thoughts had turned to more mature thoughts about him. She hadn't stopped talking about the Doctor, especially not with Mels (despite him overhearing the woman begging Amy to please stop talking about him and stop talking about the dreams of him). It was like their whole relationship had hit reset, and Amy was back to being that girl obsessed with the Doctor again, except this time it was more love than interest, or at least lust or whatever it was.

He preferred to think it was obsession.

For two years it was nothing but the Doctor. He'd pushed himself harder in his studies to try and be a doctor too, giving up his original dream to be a teacher to the younger children, he loved children. That had been the ONLY reason he'd wanted to be a doctor in the first place, because Amy had talked so admirably about the man. He'd thought, if HE were a doctor she'd admire him as well, she'd be interested in HIM too. He'd been wrong. He'd been wrong in thinking that it would take the Doctor another 12 years before he appeared in Amy's life again, that it would be time enough for them to marry and have a family and for Amy to realize that he'd always been there, right in front of her, that entire time.

But the Doctor came back a 3rd time, and he'd taken Amy with him. His heart broke and just kept breaking from all that he'd learned from the Doctor, Mac, and Amy herself during the trip that followed. Amy had run off on the night before their wedding with a strange man (and Mac, but still with the Doctor and he KNEW it was mostly the Doctor being the reason she'd gone anywhere in the first place). Amy had been away months without a thought to really get them to return her to Earth so they could get married. Amy hadn't even really told them she was getting married till hours before he'd joined them in the TARDIS. Mac had known, but it was more an accidental slip from Amy than her actually and intentionally telling the Time Lady about it. Amy had tried to kiss the Doctor, had flirted with him repeatedly, had been jealous of Mac, and had even gone so far as to imply she'd want to have one night with the Doctor in THAT sense. And that night had been hours before their wedding. Amy hadn't even thought of going back to Earth with him after Venice, hadn't wanted to call him her fiancé DURING Venice, she'd wanted to stay in the TARDIS and then invited HIM to go with her. At first he thought he could handle it, but he'd talked to her after a few hours of thinking, talked about what the Doctor told him…

And left.

Amy didn't care about him, he realized now, he'd only been a placeholder for the Doctor. A nurse to hold her over till the real medical man could take his place.

Mac had understood all too well what he felt, she'd told him about her husband, how he'd taken a mistress, cheated on her, had sons with her…all the while Mac had been forced to remain married to him. And so he'd gone to her for the ride home. Because she understood it was better for him to get out now, knowing Amy would likely never be faithful to him, than before he married her and would end up having to file for divorce. It would kill him more to see his marriage to the woman he'd loved crumble and break down and fail than to get out before it started.

He'd gotten out.

Stepped out of the TARDIS and never looked back, even took up the old 'apple a day' thing just to keep sure of it, to keep sure that the Doctor would never return to Leadworth.

So, on that note, he lifted the apple to his mouth, about to take a bite of it, when he frowned, seeing something, and set it back on the table, "Emma?" he frowned, moving over to one of the little girls and kneeling before her. She was a lovely child, blonde haired, blue eyed, loved wearing purple. Right now she had a purple little dress on, short sleeved, which revealed her arm, "May I see your arm?" he asked, holding out his hand to her and she took it, allowing him to look at it. He reached out and touched the bend of her elbow, staring intently at the dark veins travelling up her arm, tracing it with a light finger.

The veins weren't blue like normal, but an almost green color which, despite not being a doctor-in-training anymore, he knew was NOT normal.

He looked over at the other students, "Can you all roll up your sleeves please?" he asked them, only to stare in horror when he saw the same green veins on all their arms as well.

He closed his eyes a moment before he stood, "I'll just be a moment," he told the class, "Let's do a bit of craft time early yes?" he smiled a bit strained as the class cheered, "Ok, grab a coloring book and have fun."

He waited till the class was occupied before he headed to the door, looking back at the children before he stepped out into the hall, pulling out his mobile and putting it to his ear. He didn't even wait for the person on the other end to answer before he started speaking, "Doctor?" he swallowed hard, "I need your help."

~8~

Rory was pacing the halls outside his classroom, looking in periodically through the small window on the door to see the children hard at work at their colorings. He loved that part of the day the best, craft time, where he got to see just how clever and creative his kids could be. He loved seeing their purple cats and red moons-that-were-not-Mars and lollipop forests, they were treasures.

He looked over though when he heard a wheezing noise from the inside of the janitor's cupboard across the hall from him…and then heard a thump.

"Doctor!" Mac gasped, her voice muffled by the door, "I told you to wait till I'd run a scan!"

Rory couldn't help but chuckle at that, guessing the Doctor had gotten so excited he'd run out the TARDIS doors…and into the cupboard door.

His thoughts were confirmed when, a moment later, the door swung open to reveal the Doctor being led out by Mac, rubbing his head, the woman fretting and trying to check if he'd gotten a lump yet…when they both spotted him, "Rory!" Mac cheered, moving over to hug him tightly, "How are you?"

"Ok," he nodded, "Doing well actually. Got a new round of kids," he nodded back to the classroom.

"You always did love kids," another voice spoke, a Scottish lilt to it.

"Amy," he greeted stiffly.

"Rory," Amy gave him a nod, crossing her arms as she looked at him icily.

"I see you haven't changed," he remarked, eyeing her. Not just in her feelings for him, it appeared, if she was still travelling with the Time Lords. He could tell she was a bit older, judging by her face, her clothes, her hair, she was at least a few years older. But she still looked the same, it was really just the minor changes in her face that gave her away.

"I think I'm bleeding," the Doctor cut into the greeting, wincing as he touched his forehead again, "Rory? Second opinion?"

"Not a nurse anymore Doctor," Rory reminded him.

"Oh, right, yes, you've gone into teaching, haven't you? How's that going?"

"What's wrong Rory?" Mac asked, knowing that, given the way he'd left the TARDIS, he wouldn't call them up just for kicks.

Rory sighed and ran his hand down his face, "I think there might be something wrong with my kids," he nodded back at the door to the classroom.

"Ah yes," the Doctor smiled, suddenly seeming to forget the pain in his head, "The youth of Leadworth, though they'll have nothing on your eternal youth," the Doctor winked at Mac, "Thy eternal summer shall not fade," he took her hand and kissed the back of it, Amy rolling her eyes behind them.

"It's the middle of winter Doctor," Mac shook her head at him.

Rory gave a small chuckle at that, "I DID offer to help Doctor."

The Doctor mimicked his words silently, "And your offer became null and void upon leaving the TARDIS," he stuck his tongue out at the man. Rory had said that his reason for being able to help offer him 'pointers' was that he had gotten Amy to agree to marry him…which wasn't exactly true as he was not married or marrying Amy at the moment.

"Rory," Mac got them back on point again, "You called us for a reason, you said you needed help. We always come when our friends need help."

The Doctor pointed at her, "We don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. These two Time Lords are for life. You don't get rid of the Doctor so easily and no one would ever want to get rid of Kenzie."

Rory nodded at that, "You're right," he remarked, "Mac is the one ginger I wouldn't want to get rid of."

"Nice Rory," Amy scoffed at that.

Rory shook his head, but didn't take it back, Amy wasn't his fiancé, or his wife, or even his girlfriend any longer, why should he care if she was offended? He shouldn't and he didn't, "Come on," he turned and stepped back into the classroom, "Class," he called and the children quickly turned, "I'd like to introduce you to some assistants who are going to be joining us today," he smiled, heading to the front of the room, "Think of it as Career Day, we have three volunteers who are going to tell you a little about what they do. Now doesn't that sound interesting?"

The little children clapped and eagerly looked at the Time Lords.

"Ok," the Doctor clapped smiling as he followed Rory to the front, "What exactly are we looking for?" he whispered to the man.

"Emma," he began, "And the others, they've got this…weird green color to their veins…"

The Doctor nodded and turned around, sending a look at Mac, silently telling her what Rory had informed him, seeing her eyeing the children close as he faced them as well.

"Class, say hello to Miss Pond," Rory continued, "A…hostess," he offered, NOT about to tell the children she was a kissogram, or whatever it was she was now, "Agent Mackenzie of UNIT," a few of the kids went 'ooh' at that, "And this is…"

"Hello," the Doctor cut in, beaming at them, "I'm the Doctor…"

He couldn't even get another word out of his mouth when the kids started screaming and running to the back of the room.

"Did I say something wrong?" the Doctor looked at Rory.

"No," he sighed, "They've just taken the 'apple a day' thing a bit seriously. Children," he stepped past them and towards the back of the room, "It's ok, this is one of the good doctors," but the kids still seemed a bit frightened, "I'll go protect you from the stuffy old doctor then," he whispered to them, making them smile as he stood and headed over to the trio, "Sorry, about that," he nodded back to the kids as they peered at them over the top of the L-shaped bookshelf.

"Lots of kids are scared of doctors Rory," Mac patted his arm, "It's ok. We're not offended, are we Doctor?"

The Doctor just pouted, "I hated it when children are scared of me just for being A doctor when I'm THE Doctor."

They looked over when they heard the kids start to hum 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' off in the back, "What are they doing?" Amy frowned.

"It's just something they do to," Rory shrugged, "When they need to calm down or focus or settle."

"Well that's just lovely," the Doctor smiled.

"Children are wonderful," Mac nodded, "No children on the TARDIS and all."

"You alright?" Rory frowned, seeing the Time Lords starting to rub their heads.

"Yeah," Mac smiled though it was strained, "Just…bit of a headache…"

"We um…" the Doctor started blinking, "We should probably see what…what's wrong with the kids before…before we pop off and…" he yawned, making Amy and Rory yawn as well…

Before the four of them drifted off, falling to the floor…

~8~

The Doctor jerked awake to find that Mac was sitting beside him on a small sofa, his arm around her, their heads leaning towards one another, his motion startling her awake as well. He looked around, seeing Rory picking himself up from beside a chair, clearly waking as well. Rory was dressed in a grey suit, which made him look down at himself to see he was wearing a black tux, and then to Mac, the girl wearing a thin strapped, floor length black gown with a pink flower embroidered along the bust. All of them were in formal attire and, for a moment, he was confused as to why…before he realized that they were about to watch Rory and Amy get married.

"What?" he gasped, blinking, looking around, "No, yes, sorry, what?" he looked at Rory, "Sorry…dozed off, had this rather bad nightmare, don't ask."

"Rory let me help," Mac moved over to help pull Rory to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Rory nodded, "Just…dozed off, like you said Doctor."

"Blimey," the Doctor stood, "Never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you," he tweaked his bowtie.

Mac frowned though, "I'm going to go check on Amy," she headed for the door, for all three of them to have dozed off at the same time? That wasn't normal, not even by their standards of alien, something else was surely going on.

"Doctor," Rory began slowly, "I also had a kind of dream thing."

"A nightmare?" the Doctor guessed.

"Yeah."

"Ah that's common enough," he moved over to Rory, draping an arm around his shoulders amicably, "I had nightmares for WEEKS before I got married. Cold feet, it's all it is."

"It was weird though," Rory frowned, "Amy and I were…well, we…"

"Had a falling out and broke up?" Mac guessed as she entered with Amy, a long dressing gown covering the human girl so that Rory wouldn't technically 'see' her in her wedding gown before the wedding, "And you got a job as a teacher for small children?"

Rory blinked at that, "How did you know that?"

"Because I had that dream too," Amy told him.

"And me," Mac nodded.

"And me," the Doctor repeated, thinking on it slowly.

"What you had the same dream, exactly the same dream?" Rory looked at them, "ALL of us?"

"You called the TARDIS because there was something wrong with the children in your class," the Doctor nodded.

Rory let out a breath, shaking his head, "Yeah, yeah…the kids, their veins were turning green…"

"But how can we have the same dream?" Amy asked, "It doesn't make sense."

"It…could be some sort of…psychic episode?" Mac suggested, "Or the TARDIS could have jumped a time track on the way here."

The Doctor stepped past her to look out the doors and down the hall towards the entrance to the church, where the TARDIS was rather blatantly parked, "Whatever it was," he murmured, "We're back to reality now."

"What's that noise though?"

"Humming," the Doctor started blinking rapidly, "I…I think one of your younger cousins is humming Rory…"

"Is that the same song…" Mac started to yawn, stumbling against the wall.

"Yeah, the same tune," Rory nodded, moving to sit down, starting to drift off again, "The same ones the kids were…"

~8~

"Humming," Rory finished as he woke to find himself slumped down behind his desk his head on it, Amy sitting in one of the small desks his students used while the Doctor and Mac were curled up against the side shelf under a window, "Oh!" he jumped up, seeing the children watching him, "I'm so sorry class," he apologized to them, "Seems old Mr. Williams hasn't been getting the right amount of sleep which is…" he pointed at them.

"8 hours," the kids recited.

"Very good," he nodded, "You see, this is why it's important to get your rest. Don't want to nod off in the middle of learning eh?"

"Rory…" Mac stood slowly, tugging him back over to them, "Were you just dreaming we were at yours and Amy's wedding?"

"What wedding?" Amy scoffed, "Someone decided to call off the engagement," she shot Rory a look.

"Because someone thought it would be a good idea to try and sleep with a man who was not her fiancé the night before the wedding," Rory fired right back.

"Ok," Mac cut in, holding up her hands to stop them, "We all had the same dream again then."

"Weren't we just saying that?" Amy frowned, thinking on the dream.

"Yes, but we thought _this_ was the dream," he scoffed, "The other one sounds more like a nightmare to me."

The Doctor just looked over at a piece of colored chalk and picked it up, letting it drop to the ground.

"Nice to see you think marrying me would have been a nightmare Rory," Amy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Answer me this Amy, if that hadn't been the night before our wedding but our wedding night? Would anything have changed?" Rory demanded, "Or would you have forgotten me, run off with the Doctor, and not come back for months while it was only five minutes for me in the bathroom? Would you have even cared that you'd have done something like you were planning to on OUR wedding night?"

"Of course I would have!" Amy snapped.

"Oh sorry, then the night AFTER our wedding night."

"I wouldn't have slept with anyone after marrying you!"

"Well pardon me if I find that hard to believe given you almost did the night before!"

"Look," Mac cut in, physically pushing herself between them and putting her hand on their shoulders to push them back, "Keep your heads on you, and stop fighting. You're scaring the children."

Rory glanced over to see the kids were indeed frowning and looking at him in concern. He sighed and rubbed his head, "Doctor, what is going on?"

"Is this some sort of weird Time Lord thing a…a jumped time track or something?" Amy looked at them.

"No," Mac shook her head, "Even if it was a time track jump, it wouldn't have created two…whatever these are."

"Listen to me," the Doctor turned to them, looking at them intently, keeping his voice down so as not to alarm the children, "Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel."

"But we're awake now," Rory argued.

"We also thought we were awake at the church," Mac pointed out.

"But we're in a school full of kids," Amy added.

"We're also dreaming," the Doctor countered, "Trouble is…which is which? Are we flashing forwards…or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."

~8~

"This is starting to do my head in," Mac winced as they woke, Amy and Rory on the floor of Rory's dressing room, her and the Doctor on the sofa again.

"This is bad," the Doctor agreed, "I don't like this," he muttered, he really didn't like how they had no control of when they fell asleep or woke up.

"Can the TARDIS run a scan for what's going on?" Rory asked.

"Maybe," Mac shook her head, "We wouldn't know though because someone thought it would be smart to throw the manual into a supernova."

"Why would you throw the manual in a supernova Doctor?" Amy huffed.

"Because I disagreed with it," he said simply.

"Ok," Rory shook his head, "Why are we all dreaming this?" he looked around, "I mean…are we…are we dreaming the future? Is that other world mine and Amy's future?" he reached out for her hand, not liking how they were so at odds, how they were fighting all the time and how they had broken up. Was that it? Was divorce in their future?

"I don't think it is," Mac answered, "That other future…you never got married in the first place."

"For all we know we could still be there, wherever there is," the Doctor sighed and rubbed his head, "We could be there, dreaming of this. Don't you get it?"

"No," Amy squeezed Rory's hand, "Ok, no, this is real. I'm definitely awake now."

"And you thought you were awake when you and Rory were about to go at each other. Quite reprehensible behavior in front of children, might I add."

"He started it!" Amy pointed at Rory.

"Whoever started what, the point is we can't be sure which one is a dream," Mac cut in.

"I told you, trust nothing we see or hear or feel," the Doctor reminded them, "Look around you. Examine everything," he took Mac's hand, "Look for all the details that don't ring true."

"We're in a church, about to get married," Rory shook his head, "Not a lot there that doesn't ring true Doctor."

"I can give you one thing…" Mac pointed out the large windows along the wall, "Grass…should NOT be red. Not on Earth at least."

Rory and Amy got up and headed over to the window, frowning as they looked at the grass, it was more a brownish red than a true, deep red. It looked…unnatural.

The Doctor joined them, flashing the sonic out the window at the grass. Mac moved beside him and peered over his arm at the results, both their eyes widening as they saw what it was, the chemical reading in the grass and what it meant…

When they heard a humming, sounding more like quite a few others had joined the small boy in humming the little tune…which they now realized was oddly fitting, 'life is but a dream' after all.

"Remember," the Doctor grabbed Mac's hand, "This is real, but when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."

"It is real," Amy nodded, "I know it's real."

~8~

"Ok," Amy began as she grabbed the edge of the children's desk and used it to pull herself up off the carpeted floor, "This is the real one, definitely this one," she glanced over at the children, "They look scared…"

"You can't spot a dream while you're having it," the Doctor shook his head, waving his fingers in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Rory hissed at him as he tried to make his way over to the children, but they cowered back away from him, clearly scared of how he kept falling asleep on them.

"Looking for motion blur and pixilation?" Mac guessed, starting to go with Rory to calm the children.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at her, "It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so, though."

"Mr. Williams?" a voice called from the doorway. They looked over to see an older woman standing there. She was a bit short, in a grey pantsuit, with short white hair. Her lips were thin and pressed into a line, her eyes squinty, her face sharp despite the wrinkles and quite severe looking.

"Headmistress!" Rory straightened, "Hello."

"Is there a problem here?" the woman, the headmistress asked, crossing her arms, "You didn't request authorization for visitors."

"Um…I wanted to invite some friends in for…for Career Day," Rory tried to salvage the situation.

"Then pray tell, why do your pupils seem terrified?" her eyes narrowed.

"I um…"

"Hello!" the Doctor bound over, putting an arm around Rory's shoulders, "Sorry to cut in, bit busy at the moment if you don't mind and slightly keen to get it all sorted. Freak psychic schism going on."

The woman raised an eyebrow at him, "Mr. Williams…you had better explain why you've brought a strange woman, an idiot, and a hussy before your students."

"Who are you calling a hussy!?" Amy stormed over, just KNOWING the woman was referring to her over Mac.

The woman eyed her blandly, "Have you noticed the length of your skirt?" she countered, making Amy flush and try to tug her rather short miniskirt down more.

Rory opened his mouth to try and explain to her that there was something wrong with the children…when the children began to hum again…the four of them falling to the ground as the headmistress looked on.

~8~

"I'm starting to hate this," Amy groaned as she woke up to find her face half-pressed against the window, "Just stop it, because this is definitely real, it's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?"

The Doctor and Mac though just turned and rushed out of the room, into the halls and towards the doors of the church, leaving Amy and Rory little choice but to run after them.

"What is it?" Rory frowned as the Time Lords threw open the doors to the church and looked outside at the ground. He squinted, seeing a sort of…shifting beneath it, "Is that an earthquake or something?"

"Much…much worse than an Earthquake," the Doctor swallowed, before turning and shutting the doors, Mac rushing over to a coat rack beside it and grabbing an umbrella from it, wedging it though the handles to barricade it.

"What's going on?" a voice called, "Is everything alright?"

They all froze, the voice FAR too familiar to all of them, and slowly turned to see the headmistress standing there, smirking.

"What…" Rory breathed, staring at her, "What are you…HOW are you…" he didn't know a headmistress in this dream, he KNEW he didn't.

Mac looked over and grabbed a pen off a sign in register and threw it at the woman, who merely looked down when the pen went through her, causing her image to flicker.

"Well done," the woman nodded, smirking up at them again, "But a bit anticlimactic, isn't it? If I were solid, I'd be more of a threat."

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded, moving in front of Mac, not liking how the woman was looking at her.

"Hmm…" the woman turned a bored expression to the Doctor, "Let's see…you've got a Time Lady there…what the hell, call me the Dream Lady."

"Are you a Time Lady too then?" Amy frowned.

"Are you capable of asking an intelligent question?" the woman countered, sending Amy a derisive look, "Or are you limited to only flirting and innuendo?"

"Oi!" Amy glared at her.

The woman just eyed her, "I can't begin to guess what young Master Williams sees in you that would lead him to this place," she gestured around, "A wedding, to a scarlet woman? How scandalous."

"I am NOT a Scarlett woman!" Amy shouted.

"Near enough," the woman countered.

**"**I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor cut in.

"By all means," the Dream Lady gestured him on, "Miss Pond does seem to love it when you talk and take charge, you'd not believe the amount of fantasies she'd had about just that. You talking a rather…unclean way to her, taking charge of the situation, taking hold of her…"

"Stop it," Rory cut in, not wanting to hear that.

"Rory, she's just saying it to get to you," Mac stepped beside him, "Don't listen to her."

"Amy," the Doctor glanced at her, "Want to take a guess at what that is?" he nodded at the Dream Lady.

Amy blinked, "Um…" she cleared her throat, shaken from what the woman had said, "Dream Lady…she creates dreams?"

"Dreams, falsehoods, imaginings…" Mac agreed, "Nothing real though."

"What do you think Master Williams?" the Dream Lady turned to him, smirking, "Do you doubt that what I've said so far has been true? It is often said that dreams reveal our true selves and desires…that time where our conscious minds are not in control, where we see what we truly want…"

"Whatever Amy dreams about is HER business," Rory tried to argue.

"And you're about to become 'her business' aren't you?" the woman countered, "And that's just it, isn't it? You're about to become hers, not that you haven't already been hers from day one eh? Can the same be said for Miss Pond though?"

"Yes," he said firmly.

"You know this then?"

"Yes?"

"You're certain?"

"Yes!"

"Then explain why she chose the Doctor for her fiancé when given the choice in Venice," the woman tsked, "Seems she's made her choice."

"I have," Amy strode over to Rory, taking his hand, "I'm standing here, in my wedding dress, about to get married, I think my choice is clear."

"Your choice should have been clear the moment you said yes to his question."

"It was."

"And you tried to kiss and seduce and bed another man…why?" she laughed, "You can't fool me. And I will NOT see you fool Master Williams either," the woman added, a hard tone coming to her voice, "He is a man who deserves better than to be betrayed by the woman he loves."

"Where do you get off saying I'd betray him?!"

The woman gave her a look, "You ran off the night before your wedding with a strange man you knew all of 2 hours instead of staying for your fiancé, the man who you've known your entire life who loves you with his whole heart. Tell me, at any point, where that spells out unshakable loyalty to your fiancé?"

"Stop it," Mac called.

"Oh as though you'd ever defend the ginge," the woman rolled her eyes, "Not ONE of you would support her," she turned her gaze to Amy, "Not even your fiancé."

"You're wrong," Rory took a breath, "I'll always support her and…and trust her."

Amy looked at him, frowning, she could hear it in his voice, he was struggling to say those words.

"Prove it then," the Dream Lady looked at him, "I pose to you a challenge, you've got two worlds, the church and the school and you can only remain in one. There'll be a threat to face in both that shall push you to a decision that will shape the man you'll be Master Williams."

"What decision?" Rory frowned.

"You're a clever man, you'll work it out," she smirked, "Until then, 'row, row, row your boat," she started to hum, the four of them drifting off as the tune grew louder.

~8~

"Welcome back," the headmistress, no, the Dream Lady stated as the four came to on the floor of the classroom, now empty and devoid of children, "I have to say Miss Pond, this outfit is more becoming of you," she glanced at Amy's rather lacking-cloth attire. It had been rather warm the last place the TARDIS had gone and Amy was wearing just a tank and miniskirt with boots, "Shows your true nature rather well. A kissogram? Hardly. You're a step above a stripper."

"Shut up!" Amy glared at her, tears in her eyes, well aware of what her kissogram status had made others think of her. She'd done it for a laugh, but others took it more out of context.

"Don't try to appear so innocent Miss Pond," the woman shook her head, "Once a cheat always a cheat and I cannot abide betrayers nor will I stand there and watch others be fooled and manipulated by them."

"Look," Rory cut in, "Just…tell us what you need to tell us and leave."

"As you wish," the Dream Lady sighed, "Pick a world to die in and be sent to the other for the rest of your days. But think very, VERY carefully about which world you'll choose. It will be your life from then on out Master Williams."

"The church," he said instantly, "I pick the church."

The Dream Lady shook her head, "Think long and hard about that for just a moment. Will you choose it merely because it means marrying Miss Pond? Keeping her away from the Doctor and other men? Tying her to you? Will you truly wish to wed a woman who would betray you at the first sign of interest from someone she may deem better than you when they come along?" she eyed Rory a long while, "You were there for her from the start, loved her from the day you met her, and the night before she's meant to be your wife, she runs off with another man and nearly beds him? You truly wish to tie your own life and heart to a woman like that?"

"Rory?" Amy frowned, seeing Rory actually look down at that, actually seem to be considering the woman's words.

"Or will you pick here, where you got out before you ended up hurt, before your heart was shattered beyond repair?" the Dream Lady smirked, "Here, where you got to follow YOUR dream, instead of the one you thought would make you a better man in Miss Pond's eyes. Here, where you get to surround yourself with children every day. Where you are free to live the life you want, make your own decisions, instead of doing what you feel you have to to please the adulterer."

Amy flinched at that word.

"Think long and hard about this Master Williams, it is not just your life but your heart that is on the line in this challenge."

And then, before their eyes, the woman disappeared.

"Rory…" Amy looked at him, honestly frightened that…that he may not know what to do, what to pick, "Please tell me you still want the church."

Rory just looked at her, "She makes a point Amy," he had to admit, no matter how much it still hurt in this world to see the tears well in her eyes, "I…can't trust you."

Amy shook her head and rounded on the Time Lords who had remained uncharacteristically quiet during the entire exchange, only to see them looking out the windows, seeing the children had disappeared outside and were playing, "Who is she?" she demanded, wanting to know who the woman was that was pulling Rory away from what might be her only chance at a second chance with him.

"We don't know Amy," Mac sighed and turned to the humans, she and the Doctor having tried to give them privacy for a moment, "There could be any number of alien enemies that would want to…"

"Want to what?" Amy cut in, "Stop a wedding?"

"WE stopped a wedding," the Doctor agreed, defending Mac, "You'd be surprised just how many events in history are a focal point from a wedding."

"Why is she doing this then?"

"I think she was quite clear about that Amy," Mac remarked, "You may not want to admit it or think about it but…she wants Rory to choose between marrying you or letting you go."

"It's more than that," the Doctor shook his head, before taking a breath, "The Dream Lady wants Rory to decide if he should forgive you or not."

Amy blinked, "But I didn't do anything!"

"You almost did," Mac countered.

"But nothing happened!"

"Because the DOCTOR stopped it," Rory spoke quietly, making Amy turn to him, "Amy…I know you. If he hadn't stopped you…" he swallowed hard, "You would have gone to bed with him on the night before our wedding. You WANTED it to happen, you were willing to let it happen, tried to make it happen…" he shook his head, "Whatever you may think about it…you did betray me, you betrayed our relationship, my trust, my…my love. Amy…" he let out a breath, his voice cracking, "You broke my heart."

"I'm sorry," Amy whispered, blinking at him, tears in her eyes, "I…I didn't mean to…"

"But you did," Rory said firmly, taking a breath, "And I really don't know if I can forgive you. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? I don't want there to be a twice and…"

"There won't be," she promised.

"There should have never been a 'once.'"

Amy fell silent at that, knowing all too well that he was right. She had mucked it up, and badly, and what's worse…she had truly hurt a person that was important to her.

"I'm sorry," Mac cut in, "But…right now we need to work out what the danger is so we can try to stop it or at least buy some more time."

The Doctor nodded, "You said the children were getting green veins?" he looked at Rory who nodded, "Right then, let's go check them out, whatever the danger is, it could be aliens trying to harm the children first, spread some sort of disease or something."

Rory looked at the clock, "It's play-time," he murmured, turning to lead them out of the room.

"So come on, let's think," the Doctor added as they followed Rory, "The mechanics of this split we're stuck in...Kenzie?"

"Us asleep is parallel to the time awake in the dream worlds," she stated.

"And we're dreaming the same dream at the same time," Rory called, heading down the stairs.

"Yes," the Doctor snapped his finger and pointed at him, "Sort of communal trance, very rare, very complicated. I'm sure there's a dream giveaway somewhere…"

They had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they heard the children outside, humming the tune.

"Oh, no, here we go," Amy groaned as they all collapsed to the ground, the Doctor catching Mac as she fell, the two of them sliding down the wall.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac were up and on their feet in an instant, a fierce banging noise sounding from behind them, from the doors they'd just locked shut.

"What is that?" Rory frowned, "Someone outside?"

"DON'T open the door," Mac ordered, "Just…quickly, get into the chapel."

"Why?" Amy frowned.

"Amy just go!"

But Amy moved over to the doors and opened them, wanting to see what the commotion was about…only to scream at the sight before her. There were decayed corpses standing at the doorway, nearly falling forward as the door was suddenly thrown open from where they'd been banging and pressing at the door. There were others, skeletons and other arms and limbs rising from the various graves outside, all of them with reddish-brown coloring, just like the grass around them.

"Run!" the Doctor grabbed Amy's arm, pulling her back and pushing her and Rory ahead of them, over towards the main chapel room, oddly as empty as the school classroom had been, where they quickly shut the doors and shoved the umbrella Amy had pulled out of the first doors into the handles once more.

"Doctor…explain!" Amy gasped, her heart racing.

"That grass," the Doctor began quickly, "The color of it wasn't natural, wasn't human so I scanned it. It revealed the ground was saturated with a sort of chemical meant to replicate regenerative properties…like…like someone trying to create a serum for regeneration. It's toxic, and it's seeped into the ground, to the soil, right down to everything inside it…"

"It…it reanimated the corpses?" Rory blinked, "Are those zombies!?"

"By human terms, yes," Mac nodded, "By alien terms, it's more like what you'd think of from humans dumping toxic waste into streams and mutating the fish."

"Some alien species used Earth as a toxic waste dump?" Amy asked, outraged at that.

"Seems so," the Doctor sighed, rubbing his head.

"So that's the danger for this world then," Mac breathed, "Zombies. Bit cliché really."

"Makes me almost want the other world," Rory mumbled.

"What?" Amy looked at him, hurt. She had the memories of everything she'd learned in the other world, but THIS world…she had the memories of her and Rory continuing on with their engagement and marriage, obviously. The other world they'd broken it off in, but THIS one…this one there was still hope and to hear that he might actually be considering the other world as the one he'd choose…it hurt.

Rory looked at her apologetically but couldn't say anything else.

"You…you would really want to give all this up?" she breathed.

"I would want a life on Earth Amy," he countered, "Would YOU be able to give up the TARDIS for me?"

Amy was silent this time.

"At least in the other world you get what you want, the adventure and…and the Doctor…"

"NOT me," the Doctor called, already at the other doors to the room, securing them, while Mac tried to put a few long candlestick holders along the windows to strengthen them.

"You had what you wanted," Rory continued, "And I could stay where I wanted to be, be my own man, live my own life for ME…for the first time in…" he shook his head, "I can't even remember a time where my life was mine to live, where my choices weren't influenced by YOU and what YOU want," he looked at her, "Answer me right now Amy…would you REALLY want to get married right this second and stay on earth and not travel in the TARDIS anymore? Just for me, if I asked you to?"

Amy swallowed and looked down.

"The other life…as much as it truly hurts me to say Amy…but…I can't keep living my life the way YOU want it to go. I've spent years doing that and all it's gotten me was you running off to be with someone else."

"Rory…"

"You are what I want Amy," he told her, "You are all I have ever wanted. But that other life without you…it may be what I NEED for myself."

"The world does not revolve around Amelia Pond," the Dream Lady appeared, standing at the pulpit, "A much needed revelation, I'd say," she looked at Amy, "Don't you think it's about time that YOU started to consider how YOUR choices affect Master Williams instead of how his affect yours, Miss Pond?"

"Please…" Amy breathed, "Just leave us alone."

"You didn't leave the Doctor alone, after he made it abundantly clear that he did not want YOU," the woman countered, "Master Williams has essentially dedicated his life to you, to making you happy, from the time he was a child to now…and in the first test, the very first test, the ONLY test he has ever asked of you…you showed your lack of dedication to him rather strongly."

"Look," the Doctor moved over to them, "Just…stay calm. Don't get sucked in to what she's saying," he warned them.

"It's funny," Rory murmured.

"What is?" Mac frowned, stepping to his side.

"All my life, I thought I wanted this, right here…well, without the zombies," Rory spoke, "And now I'm here and…" he shook his head, "I can't help wondering if it was worth it."

"Oh don't do the sad eyes Miss Pond," the Dream Lady cut in as Amy bowed her head at that, "He's not saying it as though YOU are not worth it, he's wondering if all his efforts were worth it, if HE is worth it. Even now he's wondering if he's worth enough to even ask you to give up the TARDIS," she scoffed, "You've done quite the number to his confidence with your incessant chatter about the Doctor in front of the man you claimed to love."

"I didn't…" Amy began.

"So you weren't about to watch the man strip down naked while your boyfriend was right beside you?" the Dream Lady's eyes narrowed, "You had no shame flaunting your attraction for him then," she rolled her eyes, "I'm bored of this world. Let's see how you fare against your other danger."

The four of them sank to the ground as the tune began again.

~8~

The humans woke more slowly than the Time Lords, glancing at each other but having nothing to say. Amy couldn't blame Rory either. She knew that the Dream Lady had likely organized this entire thing to show Rory how he shouldn't forgive her for what she'd done but…it was making her realize as well that she had truly mucked it all up and HURT him and broken his trust and faith in her. And it…hurt. It hurt more than she thought it would.

She looked over to the Doctor and Mac for a distraction, only to see they were running outside to the children, but had stopped short and were staring at them. She pushed the doors open and rushed outside, over to them, "Doctor, what is it?"

"We were wrong," Mac breathed.

"About what?" Rory frowned.

"The aliens weren't trying to harm the children," the Doctor pointed, "The aliens WERE the children."

The humans looked over to see that the children were standing there, vines seeming to be creeping out from their legs and down to the ground, some of them with legs that had already turned into roots. The green veins were bulging, leaves and plants and vines starting to slowly grow out of them, covering their arms and bodies.

"What's happening to them!?" Rory gaped in horror.

"Ever heard of the cabbage patch?" Mac winced, feeling a bit sick to watch this.

"It's what parents tell their kids babies come from," Amy said, "That or the stork."

"Meet the species that originated the story," the Doctor reached out, grabbing their arms and trying to pull them back slowly, "The Cabria, the Vine-Like, would sow seeds in cabbage patches centuries ago and, when farmers came out to inspect, they'd find babies. They'd take them in and care for them, but around their fifth year they turn into their true forms…essentially a web of vines with rather…" he trailed off and they could see it, it looked like a beak-like head with sharp teeth, "Pointy teeth!" he pulled them down as one of the children hissed at them, spitting what looked like darts into a pole next to them, darts that started to hiss with what looked like acid or venom seeping out of it.

"Run!" Mac turned, pushing them on, all of them running back to the school, slamming the doors shut but not in time for a few vines of the children that raced after them to get through the door. They jumped back, avoiding them, when Mac pulled out her spray bottle and lighter, spraying the fire at the vines, making the Cabria hiss and withdraw.

"Go!" the Doctor turned to urge them up the stairs, "Go, go, go!"

They ran down a hall at the top floor, knowing the Cabria preferred to be nearer the ground, and into a classroom, barricading the desks to the door, "Interesting method," the Dream Lady appeared, sitting at the teacher's desk, "Children turning into plants? Could be the dream," she remarked, "There's a window," she nodded to the side, "Feel free to jump and test it out. Jezebels first."

"Enough!" Mac shouted at the same time the Doctor called, "Leave her alone!"

"Do that again," the Dream Lady smiled, "Mackenzie's rather fond of when you play the tall, dark hero."

The Doctor blinked and looked at her to see her blushing, "Really?"

"NOT the time Doctor," she reminded him.

"Look," Rory turned and strode up to the desk, standing before the Dream Lady, "Just stop it."

"Are you trying to impress Amy now?" the Dream Lady wondered.

"No," he swallowed hard, "I'm done trying to impress her. She's either impressed with who I am or she's not. Right now I'm defending a good person."

"A good person who would betray you at a moment's notice?"

"Stop it," Mac joined Rory, "It's over, alright, you've made your point. Leave the worlds to us, stop interfering, and go away. This is Rory's life, you have no right to interfere in it like this."

"How do you know I've no right?"

"I know who you are."

"I doubt it."

"You want to risk me telling them?" Mac challenged.

"I don't think you'll get a chance," the woman smirked, "What with the door being open."

They all looked at the door to see that all their work, all the desks, the door itself even, was just…gone…and there were three Cabrias standing there, hissing at them.

"Can't we just talk to them?!" Amy gasped as they jumped back, trying to find a place to go. Mac pulled out her spray…only for one of the vines to shoot forward and grab it right out of her hand.

"I don't think they're in a negotiating mood right now Amy," Mac shouted, ducking down to avoid a vine snapping out at her like a whip.

"Ok, Rory, Rory," the Doctor turned to him, "Hate to rush this, but you need to decide now, what world?!"

"I…I…I just…" Rory started to stutter, not sure which world he wanted to pick.

To forgive? Or let go?

"Rory don't think about the dangers, ok," Mac grabbed a chair and held it up, trying to hold back one of the creatures as the Doctor flashed the sonic at the other two, managing to dry parts of their vines and make them cringe back, "Just think about Amy…which Amy do you want?"

"Yes, do you want to be with her or not?!" the Doctor called.

"Rory…" Amy turned to him, turned her back on one of the creatures and didn't see it open its mouth and hiss, or the small darts heading right for her.

"AMY!" Rory leapt forward and pushed her away…taking a dart in the neck and making the three Cabrias disappear instantly.

"Rory!" Amy screamed, grabbing him as he fell to the ground, sinking down with him, pulling the small darts out of his neck and holding him, "Rory why did you do that!?"

Rory looked up at her, "I still love you, Amy," he told her, "That won't…won't ever change," he swallowed hard, "I don't want this world. I don't…" he gagged a bit, "I don't want to fight with you or…or lose you…I want you to be happy…so I can be happy. I will always love you Amy…"

"Hey, hey," Amy shook him as his head started to lull, "Look at me, Rory, look at me," she tried to smile at him but she was crying to hard, "Rory…don't go…stay, stay with ME," she begged, his eyes starting to flutter as she stroked his cheek, "I love you Rory. I do," she nodded, it was hitting her now, she did, she loved him…she was about to lose him, he was about to die and even though she'd see him in the other world…he was dying in her arms in THIS one, "I didn't know," she cried, "I didn't, I didn't, I honestly didn't, till right now," she sobbed, "I just want you Rory, I love you. I'm so sorry for everything."

Rory smiled weakly at her, trying to lift his hand, but Amy took it for him, "I forgive you…"

And, just as Rory's eyes began to fall closed, a bright light filled the room…

~8~

Amy and Rory looked over to see that they were standing before the altar in the church, but there was still a pounding at the doors, the zombies trying to get in.

"So you chose to forgive," the Dream Lady remarked, standing between them as though the vicar, the Time Lords at the doors, trying to hold them closed, "Well, that's your choice. You're a better person than I am Rory Williams," she remarked, "To trust her after she betrayed you."

Rory shook his head, "I know Amy," he began, looking at the Dream Lady, "I know what she's like, I know her personality, I knew about her obsession with the Doctor and her flirting and her kissogramming going into a relationship with her," he looked at Amy and took her hand, "I chose her anyway. I knew the chances going in, and I know the chances going out. Amy…is…able to hold onto something she sees as important for years. And marriage…" he smiled at her, "She wouldn't tie herself to someone like me for the rest of her life if she wasn't serious. What happens before she's Mrs. Williams…at times will be hard to accept, to move past, but I know her life after she's Mrs. Williams…she'll hold onto our marriage to the end of her days."

"I will," Amy breathed, nodding, tears in her eyes.

"Well then," the Dream Lady smiled, "I suppose I must concede defeat and proclaim you man and wife…" she waited till they'd nearly leaned in to kiss before adding, "Though there is one thing you forget," she smirked, "Till death do you part. Marriage is not easy, it is hard, and it takes work and courage and strength to see through," she nodded at the doors before disappearing.

Rory frowned and looked back at the doors, seeing them straining, the zombies still trying to get in and…the Doctor about to unlock the doors, "What are you doing!?" he shouted, pulling Amy behind him.

"Remember how the Dream Lady wanted you to pick between two worlds?" the Doctor asked.

"I picked this one!"

"How could a DREAM Lady appear if not in a DREAM," Mac remarked, "They're BOTH dreams."

"What?!" Amy demanded.

"Are you sure?" Rory frowned, seeing a hint of that in what the Dream Lady had said about marriage being hard and needing strength…though he was really hoping it DIDN'T mean facing down a horde of zombies.

Mac nodded, "Yeah…we are…cos we know who she is."

The Doctor took a deep breath and threw the doors open, grabbing Mac's hand and pulling her down the aisle to the humans, all of them grabbing together and hugging tightly, closing their eyes as the zombies ran at them, when the same bright light filled the room just as the creatures reached them…

~8~

Amy and Rory slowly stepped into the console room of the TARDIS to see Mac holding up a magnifying glass to something in the Doctor's hand, six small little shimmering beads of some sort. The Doctor smiled at them as he glanced over, "Any questions?"

"What's that?" Amy nodded at the beads.

"Specks of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us," he passed the beads off to Mac, who carried them to the doors of the TARDIS and blew them out into space.

"So that was the Dream Lady then, those little specks?" Rory frowned.

"Actually…" Mac took a breath, "The Dream Lady was me."

"What?" Amy scoffed.

"Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite," the Doctor explained, "It feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you."

"Being 917…it had quite a lot to feed on in terms of anger and bitterness," Mac sighed. Even though she'd gotten over a lot of her anger, she knew there were still remnants of it, and with what happened to Rory and what happened to her with her husband…that anger had just come rearing to the surface again.

"But why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy asked.

"Darkness in you pair?" the Doctor nearly snorted at that, "It would've starved to death in an instant. We choose our friends with great care. Otherwise Mac's stuck with just my company, and I'm trying to grow you humans on her."

Mac rolled her eyes at that.

Amy hesitated, looking at Mac, "You said…you called me…" she shook her head, "Do you really think all that about me?"

"You didn't give me much in counter to it Amy," Mac told her honestly, before sighing, "The thing you need to realize Amy is…I WAS married, and my husband did just what you were going to do…but he did it every single day. He took a mistress the second he found out I couldn't have children. He was with her instead of me for the rest of our marriage, treated her like his wife, and…it hurt. Even though there was no love between us…it still hurt, more than it probably should have for him to do that and betray me like he did. To see Rory…this…this innocent little puppy being kicked around and stepped on and pulled along on a leash by you…" she held up her hand when Amy opened her mouth to argue, "You may not see it like that but…it CAN be seen like it. To see this man who genuinely LOVES you…and have you do that to him, do to him what my husband did to me? Amy it would crush Rory more because he DOES love you. It hurt and it broke my hearts for a man I didn't care for but who was my husband to do that to me. If I'd actually loved him?" she shook her head, "I couldn't imagine it and I didn't want Rory to feel that way either. I hope now you see how WRONG you were to treat him like he didn't matter, like you didn't want to be with him, and to keep comparing him to the Doctor because Amy…Rory is a remarkable man, one of the best."

"I know," Amy breathed, nodding.

"Then TELL him that more often," Mac nudged her, actually gave her a small shove towards the boy.

Amy approached him slowly and smiled at him, "I really do love you Rory," she told him, "And…I can't wait to be your wife."

Rory smiled, "I think…I wanted you to marry me tomorrow," he joked a bit on the use of the date, "Because…I kept thinking you'd stay with the Doctor cos you picked him and not me. But…I get it now," he nodded, "It's…fun and interesting and exciting and you just want adventure. It IS a time machine," he agreed, taking a breath, "Tomorrow will come when we're ready for a nice calm moment."

Amy smiled widely and leaned in to kiss him.

Mac smiled at that and turned to the Doctor, about to hint to him that they should step out and give them privacy…when she saw something that made her stop and blink.

"What in the name of sanity have you got on your face Doctor?"

The Doctor grinned, "What? You don't like it?"

Mac just stared. He was wearing one of the novelty joke eyeglasses with thick bushy eyebrows over it and a large plastic nose with a bushy mustache under it, "No," she answered bluntly, "You look really creepy."

He pouted, "But I thought you liked noses and…and people with thicker eyebrows and…"

Mac blinked, realizing he was referencing Venice and how she'd commented on his chin, nose, and eyebrows, "I said I'm a nose girl…I didn't say that was all I find attractive in men," she smiled lightly, "There's more to a person than meets the eye."

"So…because I don't have a unique nose or thick eyebrows…"

"You're not defined by your face Doctor," Mac told him, "WE of all people know better than that, to base our appreciation on our bodies when we change them so often," she reached out and tweaked his bowtie, "It's truly what's inside the counts for us."

He smiled at that, pleased that she wasn't saying she wasn't attracted to him, "Well, I rather think your outside is just as lovely as your inside."

"Thank you," she reached up and touched his cheek, her thumb coming to rest on his chin, "You never know, keep this body around long enough and your chin just might grow on me."

He beamed at that, "I plan to," he nodded, "Going to keep this one around as long as possible."

"Good," she nodded, before turning to look at Rory and Amy, "So…where should we go next?"

"I don't know," Rory shrugged, Amy turning in his arms though still standing within them, "Anywhere's good for me. I'm happy anywhere. It's up to Amy this time. Amy's choice."

"No," Amy shook her head, "It's up to US this time," she corrected, "I've picked a lot of adventures so far," she looked at him, "You decide this time."

Rory smiled at that and nodded.

A/N: Hope you liked the little twist here ;) I tried to keep this with an original twist/alien threat but still stick to the overall spirit of the original episode with some of the dialogue seeping in :) I also wanted to give Rory his just dues and give him a chapter that largely focused on him. I'm not sure if it's been done before in DW stories, to make this episode about Rory instead, if so, cool beans ;) If not, than yay for being the first :)

With Mac there and with how obvious and firm the Doctor was being about his feelings for her to Amy and Rory...I felt like (subconsciously) Mac picked up on that. To her...the Doctor's been very clear that he does NOT want Amy, so even if Amy picked the Doctor over Rory, it wouldn't matter, the Doctor would never be with her. I tried to keep true to her new personality while still having the psychic pollen latch onto her anger, I picture the new her and the 'Fury of a Time Lord' to be a calmer fury and that tied to her current personality, she targeted Amy but made it about Rory, and in the end still had a revelation for Amy as well :)

But RORY though. HE had to make a choice about whether he wanted to stay with Amy and forgive her, or if he wanted to break it off and not marry her, go on his own way. In the show, I got the impression that the Doctor only told Rory that 'Amy tried to kiss him' but in this story he told Rory everything like 'Amy might have tried/been willing to sleep with him' sort of thing and THAT would hit him far more. Knowing what Mac's husband did to her, the Doctor would tell Rory everything and not gloss over it for Amy's sake. I honestly and truly think Amy was implying more than just kissing in the show with her innuendo and how she acted afterwards, how she was trying to pull his braces off and things. I do believe, if the Doctor hadn't stopped her or had been willing, she would have slept with him :(

I wanted to show Rory making a choice of to forgive her or not :)

I also wanted to lay the foundations for parallels between the Ponds and Time Lords. Here the Doctor and Amy can relate to each other, both having 'betrayed' the ones they love and are working towards making up for it where Rory and Mac were the ones betrayed. Later, well, the Doctor and Rory have always wanted children ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh Mac's alter ego definitely called Amy out on a lot that she did to Rory :)

I've already got the Silurians written out :) Mac does know of them, but that's all I can say ;)

I can't say whether or not Teddy will regenerate or what Clara will be to the Time Lords just yet ;)

Silencio will have to be a surprise ;) I think Moffat's a good writer, some of my favorite episodes are ones he's written, I just think he tends to get a bit too focused on how HE wants DW to be and sometimes it feels a little forced. I would have been thrilled if he'd at least had the past companions mentioned by name instead of just the holograms in Berlin or mentioning Rose/Jack at the end of Series 6, just something to keep them alive in memory :) I would have brought Jack back, just to see him around Amy or Clara :) I had at the start of the River episodes that Mac had been trying to think of ways to help cheer the Doctor up about the Daleks, but I didn't specify how long she'd been trying to come up with something for :) I'll go back and add in 'for a few months' or something though :) So Amy's been with them for a while, but the museum was the first place Mac was able to actually take them herself as an attempt to make up for it with the Doctor. He sort of struck me as the sort to keep going so he doesn't think about things, but the fact that he was picking all the adventures maybe could mean that he was still trying to escape the Daleks in the back of his mind...Mac taking control with the museum was the first change in dynamic that he could enjoy himself as he hadn't picked it :)

Oh my brother's aware of the financial situation, he complains when our parents try to take his money and spends it on tools and paying his credit cards off as much as he can before they try and ask for 'help' paying things :/

I can say TL6 will be one who 'went mad' at the Untempered Schism ;) But we won't see her till 2015 :) She won't be split/multiple personality though :)

I can't say who Clara will be or what she'll call Mac, there's always a chance she might just be an average companion, what with Mac's insistence that they all be treated equally ;) I have no idea where the ideas come from lol, I think it's more I'll write one and have a polar opposite appear and go from there, but they're always changing what they'd do if they were there so it ends up being just a mess of different TLs with different personalities :) But thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the stories so far :)

We'll see a few 11 Rory bonding moments to come yup ;)

That's ok about reviewing, I'm so sorry about your dog :( -bear hugs!-

We definitely got a Dream Lady calling Amy out ;)

My dad's the sort where, if you even start saying something against what he wants to hear he tunes you out and goes 'uh huh, uh huh, uh huh,' and will yes you to death but not really pay attention :( The race team idea's been going on for...more than 5 years now, the paycheck thing since I got a job the end of 2012 :/


	9. The Hungry Earth

The Hungry Earth

The doors to the TARDIS flew open and the Doctor ran out, pulling Mac behind him, far too excited to even try to close her eyes and try to surprise her, shouting, "Rio!" as he went…only to stop short and pout when he saw that they were not actually on the beaches of Rio but in a cemetery on top of a hill instead.

He pouted, his shoulders slumping as he saw the place they'd landed in. He'd actually TRIED this time, to get the box to go to Rio. Amy had been bothering him for ages about going somewhere on modern earth, somewhere fun, and he knew that Mac loved beaches and water and oceans and he knew Rio had some of the loveliest beaches there were on Earth. He'd hoped for a day there, let the humans go do their own little date while he and Mac spent time together. He'd been thinking of practically nothing except what she'd told him after the Dream Lady event, that not everything was based on if she was a nose girl or if his eyebrows were delicate, but other things. It gave him hope that it was truly what was inside that counted and that, if he'd been able to get her to love him once before, he could do it again.

He was hoping, spending a nice day doing something SHE would enjoy, much like she'd tried to help him get over the Daleks with the museum, that it would help. He knew she still felt rather badly for what her subconscious had done to Amy and Rory. He understood, as did the humans, she had been hurt by her husband betraying her and she'd been trying to protect Rory from feeling the same sting, all of them aware that it would hurt him far more because he actually DID love his wife whereas she had barely been able to tolerate her husband. He knew she hadn't meant to say all the things she had to Amy as the Dream Lady. He knew Mac, she would have wanted to speak to Amy privately, but the psychic pollen had gotten to her before she had a chance.

But quite a few good things had come from it. Amy had been made aware of how badly she'd acted, how her actions had come across to others, and what affect it had on Rory. He'd seen a rather large change in the woman since then, she'd hardly made any sort of even slightly flirty comment to HIM, she had taken Mac to the side and talked to her about what her husband had done to her, and she was just…it was like she was a different woman around Rory now. It was like she'd finally realized she'd had no chance with HIM from the start and, without the smallest stirrings of hope that she would end up with him, she was able to see how amazing a man Rory really was. He was immensely relieved about that, he wouldn't have to worry about any comments from Amy that he might misinterpret or not realize she was trying to flirt with him about.

It was ironic in a way, he kept trying to flirt with and woo Mac…and she hardly realized it, and Amy had apparently been doing the same to him and hadn't noticed much either. It did worry him that, perhaps, Mac had found someone else that she was fond of besides him and that was why she wasn't noticing his efforts, it was the reason he hadn't noticed Amy's. But he shook his head of those thoughts, no, there wasn't really anyone else, no one that Mac had mentioned or spoken of or acted differently around. He knew she was more fond of Rory than she had been other humans, but it was because she empathized with him and not because she was interested in him. She definitely wasn't, not after the lengths her subconscious had gone to get him together with Rory and patch that relationship up.

Rory was a good man, to forgive Amy as he had, to choose the path of forgiveness. Mac hadn't forgiven her husband, nor did he think she ought to have because her husband had continually betrayed her, flaunted his mistress and his sons at her, and many other things. Amy had made one attempt and realized her mistake and they could tell that she was not going to make it again. Amy seemed to realize how she genuinely felt about Rory and that was all they could ask because it took enormous discomfort away from their travels to have Amy hanging off the arm of her fiancé instead of another man.

Though Mac did give him an extra tight squeeze when she hugged him at times, just to sort of poke at Amy, not often, just once or twice for the flirting she'd done before she'd tried to put the moves on the Doctor.

"Nuh uh," Amy shook her head as she and Rory stepped out of the box after them, looking at the rather fading leaves of the trees, just starting to turn colors, the air chilled which she could feel as her outfit was more geared for the warm climate of the area than a cemetery in autumn.

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe," Rory added, winding his arm around Amy's waist.

"No," the Doctor sighed, slumping more.

Mac gave a soft laugh and linked her arm through his, "It was a very nice gesture Doctor," she told him, "I've been wanting to go to the beach for a while…"

"Ever since the Angels," he nodded, "It was um…one reason I chose Venice as well, canals, water…wasn't quiet expecting the Sisters of the Water to be there…" he winced at it, "I know you love the sound of the waves."

Mac smiled gently at that, "Like you enjoy the song of the trees," she nudged him, thinking of Gallifrey.

"No song is lovelier than yours," he winked at her.

"Your song is rather like an opera," she joked back, "Goes on forever."

He laughed at that and Mac stepped away from him, starting to look around the cemetery a moment, trying to get her bearings, he'd grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the TARDIS before she could run an environment scan. He took a step onto the grass to follow her, only to stop, "Ooh, feel that, though, what's that?" he started to bounce up and down in place, "Ground feels strange..." he looked back at the humans and then Mac, "Just me?"

Mac shook her head, "No it does feel odd…" she looked around, "I'm going to go run an environment check," she started to head back to the TARDIS, but he grabbed her hand as sh passed him.

"Wait!" he called, "That's weird!" and pulled her off across the cemetery to just on the other side of a church behind them.

"What's weird?" Rory moved after them.

"Doctor, stop trying to distract us," Amy sighed, going with Rory, "We already know we're in the wrong place," but the Doctor just crouched down by a patch of rather oddly colored grass and held it up to Mac, "Mac, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio, can you get him back to the TARDIS so we can go?"

"The grass is blue," Mac observed one of the pieces the Doctor handed her, "Literally, BLUE," she stood and held it up to the humans to see.

"There's patches of it all round the graveyard," the Doctor stood and looked around at it, "So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot…"

Mac started to smile, "I have something that just might make it up to you though Amy…" she turned the ginger girl around to look across a field at two people, a woman with red hair and a man with brown hair waving at them, "Who do you think they are?"

"Can't be!" the Doctor pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking at the two others as Rory started to wave, "It is! It's you two."

"We're still together in ten years," Amy started to smile at the thought.

"But…we're here," Rory pointed between him and Amy, "How can we be up there?!"

"How could we get you back five minutes after you got pulled out of your stag?" Mac countered, "Time machine Rory."

"I'd say it's more the two of you, ten years in your future, come to relive past glories," the Doctor smiled, "Humans, you're so nostalgic."

"Says the man who loves keeping score at museums?" Mac countered, "And, I believe Martha told me about a little trip to New New York?" she gave him a look.

"Right," he scratched the side of his face, recalling that bit of nostalgia he'd had in his last body, to take his new companion to the same place as his old companion.

"I wouldn't mind it," Mac offered.

"Mind what?"

"Seeing some of your old achievements," she shrugged, "Going to…I dunno, meet Shakespeare or visit Women Wept."

"Well then, for you," he nodded, "We'll go to all of them and I'll tell you all the adventures you couldn't research through earth's history."

"Brilliant."

"Showoff," Rory muttered to him with a smirk as Mac stepped away and started to examine the cemetery for more patches.

"Just…offering to take her on trips she'll enjoy," the Doctor defended.

"You're trying to impress her," Rory remarked, "And I learned very recently that you shouldn't try, just…let it happen. She probably thinks you're impressive enough as it is."

The Doctor started to frown a bit, "I don't…think that's quite true."

"What?" Rory scoffed, "YOU, not impressive? I think Amy's proof enough of that."

The Doctor managed a smile at that, seeing that Rory was able to joke about or at least talk about Amy's past obsession, "But that's a human encountering an alien, we're all impressive to you…even the Slitheen would probably be."

"The who?" Rory blinked.

"Never mind," the Doctor waved it off, "The point is…at Time Lord to another Time Lord?" he shook his head, "We're about as impressive as a human meeting another human."

Rory reached out and patted his shoulder, "I'm sure you're more impressive than that to her Doctor," he glanced sideways at the man, "Have you ever heard of a 'wingman?'"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, before shaking his head, "No."

Rory laughed, "It's a person who sort of helps talk you up to someone you like. If you want, I can talk to Mac and try to…I dunno, make you seem more impressive?" he didn't think it was possible, but the Doctor had been a true and good friend to him despite having only met him once in pushing Amy away when she'd tried to kiss him, and Mac had helped both him and Amy come to a few realizations, he owed them a little bit.

"You…would do that?" the Doctor stared at him.

"Yeah," he nodded, "It's what blokes do for each other."

"Thank you Rory," the Doctor started to smile.

"Hey," Amy skipped back over to her fiancé, looping her arm through his, Mac walking with her, "Let's go and talk to them! We can say hi to Future Us! How cool is that?"

"You really shouldn't," Mac shook her head at them, "The paradoxes alone can be very…"

"Oh, look!" the Doctor took her hand, pointing down the hill to what looked like a dig site with a very large drill set up, "Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See," he grinned at them, "WAY better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing!"

"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Amy sighed.

"Let's go and have a look!" the Doctor nodded eagerly, trying to tug Mac down the hill, but she held back, tugging him back as equally as he was pulling her, "Come on!" he nearly whined, "Let's see what they're doing Kenzie!"

"Doctor if you can't get us to Rio, how're you ever going to get us back home?" Rory shook his head at him.

"Did you not see, over there?" Amy nudged him, "It all works out fine."

Rory started to smile at that, ignoring the Time Lord acting like a toddler and pulling at his mother's a few feet away, "Hang on. What are you doing with that?" he pointed at Amy's finger.

"Engagement ring!" Amy cheered, wiggling her fingers at him, "I thought you liked me wearing it."

"Amy! You could lose it! Cost...a lot of money, that!"

Amy rolled her eyes but took off her ring, handing it to him, "Spoilsport."

"Are we going to have to wait longer now?" the Doctor pouted, "I want to see the mining thing."

"So go on," Rory waved him off, "I'll catch you up. Mac?" he called, "Why don't you come with me? I bet you could help me find my way back to the Doctor and Amy than me walking off alone."

"Brilliant idea!" the Doctor suddenly cheered, realizing what Rory was doing, he was going to 'talk him up'…or whatever that meant, but he thought it was something good, "Yes, brilliant. Outstanding. Fantastic. What do you think Kenzie? Good?"

Mac eyed him a moment, "It's fine with me?" she said, sounding more like a question than a statement, not quite sure why he thought it was so brilliant. The last few adventures he'd been rather loathe to be separated from her. Their first actual adventure with Amy he'd been sulky that she'd wanted to wander a spaceship with Amy instead of him and now he was practically pushing her to go with Rory.

"Good, so…on you get," Rory shooed the others away.

Amy gave him an odd look for it as well but turned to follow the Doctor down the hill, the man already eagerly dashing down it and heading for the drill.

"Shall we?" Rory held out an arm to Mac, who smiled and nodded, taking his arm as the two of them headed back to the TARDIS.

Mac pulled out her key and unlocked the doors for them, allow Rory in first. The man walked up to the console and put Amy's ring back in the small box she'd kept it in, resting it on one of the controls, "It's a lovely ring Rory," Mac commented when she saw Rory smiling at it, "And Amy is a lovely girl."

Rory looked at her, "What about you? Do you ever see yourself getting married again?"

Mac's smile faded, "I thought I'd marry the Doctor once," she admitted, "But he married someone else, c'est la vie," she sighed, "I just…my marriage…I think the humans would say, it left a bad taste in my mouth," she shook her head, "I'm not sure I'd want to get married again. Not even an Earth ceremony."

"What if it was to the Doctor?" Rory asked carefully.

"The Doctor doesn't want me," Mac said, though Rory could hear a faint sadness in her voice.

"I dunno, he seems fond of you," Rory offered.

"I'm the last Time Lady left, he doesn't exactly have many options about where to place his affections."

"I think it's more than that," Rory countered, "He's…a remarkable man, lots of women find him impressive."

"He IS impressive," Mac agreed, making Rory smile as he'd gotten that admission out of her.

"You're rather impressive too. What if the Doctor DID want to marry you?" Rory moved to follow her out, "Would you marry him then?"

"I think I'd be afraid to."

"You?" Rory scoffed, "Afraid?"

Mac shrugged, "I don't know how to be a good wife. I can't give him the children he's always wanted. And speaking of children…" Mac added at the end, just as Rory opened his mouth to ask her about that thing Zero had called them, a Chosen or something, "Hello," Mac smiled at the young boy that was waiting in front of the box, a pair of headphones around his neck, and a woman beside him in a pink jacket.

"Hello," the woman greeted, "That was pretty quick!"

"Was it?" Rory asked slowly, not quite sure what was quick.

"It's great that you came."

"Bit retro," the little boy looked at the TARDIS, "What is it, portable crime lab?"

"Very observant," Mac winked at the boy, going along with it, before pulling out her ID, "Agent Mackenzie, of UNIT. And this is my associate…Dr. Williams," she nudged Rory.

"Really, UNIT?" the woman frowned, "I don't think this is alien related…"

"We don't just handle alien matters ma'am," Mac offered, "We specialize in all sorts of odd disturbances."

"Right well, Ambrose Northover," she reached out to shake their hands, "I was the one who called. I run the meals on wheels for the whole valley. This is my son, Elliot."

"Where's your uniforms?" Elliot frowned at them.

"Don't be cheeky, Elliot, they're plain clothes. CID, is it? Anyway, it's over here," she turned and started to lead them off, Rory glancing at Mac who shrugged in a 'might as well' way before they followed her as well, coming to stop before an open grave, "It's a family plot, see. My aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Alun, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down. There's not many of us left up here now…"

"Mum, they don't care about that!" Elliot cut in, "They want to know about the dead bodies."

"Yes," Mac nodded, "The more 'to the point' details would be appreciated."

"Sorry," Ambrose nodded, "Well, they always wanted to be buried in the same plot, together. But when we went to bury Uncle Alun, Gladys wasn't there. Gone. Body, coffin, everything."

"What?" Rory frowned as Mac glanced at the hole.

"Was there any sign of the theft?" Mac asked.

"Not at all," Ambrose shook her head, "On the surface the grave was untouched. No signs of it having been messed with. Nobody has touched the grave since my aunt was buried. But when they dug it open, the body was gone. How is that possible?"

Mac nodded, "Well then, if you'd give us a bit of privacy to investigate, I'm sure we can work this out ma'am."

Ambrose seemed a little startled that but turned and led her son away.

"Can we?" Rory looked at Mac, "Work it out?"

Mac smiled, "Only one way to find out…"

Before she jumped down into the grave.

~8~

"So what was the Doctor doing before?" Rory asked as he hopped in place at the top of the grave, Mac crouched within it with a small stick of metal stuck into the ground, a paperclip resting on top of it, staring at it intently, "With the…the hopping?"

Mac smiled, "Being Time Lords we can feel the planets we're on in their place in space and time. We can feel the earth moving beneath our feet, feel it spinning as it orbits the sun. He was feeling a shift in the natural feel of the earth. The ground feels weird."

"Oh, so…this," he stopped hopping, "Won't help me then."

"No," Mac gave a soft chuckle, "Sorry."

Rory shrugged, when he saw Mac stiffen, "What is it?"

Mac was just staring at the paperclip as it fell off the metal stick, before she placed her hand on the side of the grave, frowning, "It's moving…"

"Do you want sugar?" Elliot called as he headed over to them, interrupting Rory as he was about to ask what was moving.

"Sugar in what?" Mac looked up at him, standing.

"Why are you in the grave?" Elliot frowned.

"Needs investigating, doesn't it?" she smiled.

"Yes, but why are YOU in there?" Elliot glanced at Rory and back to her.

"I'm the senior field agent, Dr. Williams is in training," Mac winked.

"Oh," Elliot nodded, "Mum's making tea."

"2 sugars thanks," Mac moved to kneel back down on the ground, examining the rod.

"Just white, thanks," Rory added when Elliot looked at him.

"There's only one explanation, as far as I can see," the boy offered.

"What's that, then?"

"The graves eat people. Devour them whole, leaving no trace."

"I'm not quite sure it's that," Mac called up to them.

"They didn't steal the body from above. They couldn't have got in from the sides. Only other thing is, they get in from underneath."

"Doesn't always mean it's eating them," Mac looked up at him.

"'When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

"Sherlock Holmes, nicely done," Mac laughed, "But I meant there's still one improbable solution."

"What's that?"

"They got it from below," Mac agreed there, "But it could be creatures living in the earth, mole people…lizard men…dinosaurs…"

"Now THAT'S impossible," Elliot laughed, turning to head off, putting his headphones back on.

Rory sighed, "What's going on?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't have said that if it wasn't somewhat true.

"The rod," she nodded to it, "Stick it in the ground and it's like a tuning fork, if the ground shifts, IT shifts. It knocks the paperclip of but before it did that, the clip shook…like when a train passes by a house and the china shakes."

Rory frowned, "There's no tube around here though."

"Exactly," Mac nodded, standing up again, "If it's not a tube running under the ground, it could be something else coming up from it. Like Elliot said, it's not coming from the sides or above…"

"But below," Rory nodded, "So what…someone's drilling up like that drill we saw is going down?"

"Could be," Mac sighed, "We need to find the Doctor."

Rory held out a hand to Mac to help her out of the grave, they had to find Ambrose and Elliot and get them out of there.

~8~

Mac was leading the way, to the drill site, a rather irate Ambrose following them, not quite liking how she'd been ordered about in the middle of preparing tea, told to leave it, and follow them. But she'd gone because Mac had asked about other people being there and her father was out there. Her husband had disappeared and she didn't want her father to be next, so she'd gone, keeping her son close.

"Oh no…" Mac muttered as she stopped walking and looked up, seeing a red light spark in the sky as something hit it, making it flicker to reveal a large red dome around them, "Come on!" she shouted, spotting the Doctor just at the bottom of a small hill, an Indian woman and an older man beside him with wheelbarrows full of equipment and the sonic out in his hand.

And Amy nowhere to be seen.

"Energy signal originating from under the Earth," the Doctor was saying to them, "We're trapped."

"Doctor!" Mac called as they got closer.

"Something weird's going on here," Rory added, "There's people stealing bodies from the graves."

"From below," Mac corrected, knowing that, as sick as it was, there WERE grave robbers out there in the world.

"Ok, right, I've got an energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye," the Doctor put in what he'd learned as well, "We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."

"So we can't use the TARDIS," Mac muttered, biting her lip, "A shield like that would destroy the circuits."

"The what?!" the Indian woman asked.

"And we've only got nine and a half minutes," the Doctor warned her, "Not enough time to boost the circuits."

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory frowned.

"We're trapped," the Indian woman offered, "And something's burrowing towards the surface."

"Right," Mac nodded, "Sorry, um…Agent Mackenzie," she gestured at Rory, "Dr. Williams."

"Nasreen," she nodded.

"Hold on," Rory frowned, looking around, "Where's Amy?"

"Get everyone inside the church!" the Doctor turned to Nasreen and the other man, before looking back at them, "Rory, I'll get her back."

"Doctor…" Mac began slowly, "Get her back from where?"

He swallowed hard, "She was taken. Into the Earth."

"How?!" Rory demanded, "Why didn't you stop it?!"

"I tried. I promise, I tried!"

"Well, you should've tried harder!"

"Rory," Mac put a hand on his arm, squeezing it, "We WILL get her back. Whatever took her, we CAN find it."

"Until then, I'm going to need your help keeping everyone safe," the Doctor told him, "Please. I need you alongside me," he looked at them, "I need you both."

"You've got us," she looked at Rory, "Right?"

Rory swallowed hard but nodded, "Yeah."

"Good, come on," the Doctor turned and led them towards the church on the hill. They rushed in and the Doctor, Nasreen, the other man, and Mac quickly got to work setting up the equipment despite the severe state of disuse and disrepair the room was in.

"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone," Ambrose began, "And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth?"

"Apparently," Mac nodded.

"If we move quickly enough, we can be ready," the Doctor agreed.

"No, stop," Ambrose scoffed, "This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," the older man, Ambrose's father called.

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

"Look, Ambrose," Nasreen turned to her, "We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, ok? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it, for me, is the Doctor."

"Him?!" Ambrose stared at the same time Mac remarked, "That's a first."

"Oi!" the Doctor nudged Mac, "Not all of us have your skills speaking with humans."

"Nearly all your companions were humans," Mac countered, "You, of all people, should know by now how to explain things to them."

"Yes well…I don't have as much eloquence as you," he remarked, "Nor your lovely voice."

"Can you get my dad back?" a small voice asked, and they looked over to see it was Elliot.

Mac glanced at the Doctor and moved over to Elliot, knowing that he knew her better, and knelt before him, taking his hands, "Of course we will sweetie," she told him, squeezing his hands, "Whatever it is that took him…well, we've got lots of experience dealing with things that try to hurt people and we stop them. We can get your father back, I'm sure of it."

"But we need you to trust us," the Doctor added, looking more at Ambrose for it, "And do exactly as we say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

Ambrose swallowed, "So tell us what to do."

"Thank you Ambrose," Mac smiled at her before standing up.

"Right then, we have eight minutes to set up a line of defense and only the items in this room to do it," the Doctor pointed at Mac, "Show time."

Mac smiled, glancing around, "Ok, I want every single phone, every camera, anything that can receive or transmit. Get a collection of alarms, sensors, security lights. Anything that has bells and whistles on it, alarm clocks, actual whistles. We'll need rope, mirrors, lights, anything and everything you can that'll help us spot someone sneaking about, and bring it to me."

Rory watched Mac get to work and looked at the Doctor, "Couldn't YOU have worked out line of defense?"

"Oh yeah," the Doctor nodded, "But I love how creative she gets. Oi!" he called, walking over to her, "I can sonic the cameras to the same feed."

Mac considered it a moment, "Not quite what I had in mind, but if you'd like," she shrugged, waving him off, making him grin before he ran off, eager to help.

~8~

Mac quickly made her way around the outside of the church, getting a better look at the land around them, at the layout of the church, at the little bits and pieces she might be able to use for help and for stopping whatever was coming. That did mean leaving the Doctor to setting up the security footage to the sonic frequency he'd set them on, but she trusted him. She wanted to be the one to set up the rest of the cameras that they had, set up the small traps that would slow down the attackers, and see if there was anything else they could use.

At the moment she was strategically placing her compact and hand held confiscated mirrors around the church, only to stop when she spotted Ambrose heading towards a van in the reflection. She frowned, spotting the woman had an armful of objects bundled together and headed over to her, "What are those?" she asked, nodding at the bundle, sparing a glance at the Wheels on Meals van.

"Whatever we might need to protect ourselves," Ambrose stated.

Mac could see there were tasers and sheers, and even knives and guns among the pile, "Touch those…and I tie you down to a chair."

"The whole point of this was to defend ourselves!"

"I could defend you with a scarf and a rock, with a pen and toothpick even," Mac told her, "There are other ways to fight than to grab a gun. Believe me Ambrose, I've been around weapons you could never even dream of. I've built ones worse than those. We DON'T touch the weapons. Understood?"

Ambrose gave her a glare and turned to stride away, leaving Mac to shake her head at the woman. She let out a long breath before she walked away herself, stopping by Rory as he set up a camera on one of the gravestones, "Rory…how are you?"

Rory shook his head, "I feel like…I just got Amy and now I've lost her again."

Mac smiled sadly, "I know that feeling," she nodded, "But we WILL get her back Rory."

Rory gave her a short nod at that, looking up when he saw the area around them grow dark, "It's getting darker. How can it be getting dark so quickly?" he checked his watch, double checking the time, nowhere near dusk.

"They're trying to put us at a disadvantage by cutting off the light," Mac realized, "So they must be…" a low rumbling noise started to sound, "Here. Come on," she reached out and pulled Rory up, rushing with him to the church, seeing Ambrose was currently trying to get inside as well but the wooden door wasn't opening.

"I can't open it!" Ambrose shouted, trying to turn her key to get in, "It keeps sticking! The wood's warped."

"Around the lock?" Mac rushed over to look at it.

"Yeah," Ambrose nodded.

Mac bit her lip, looking at the wood, it was jutting out and pressing against the lock, keeping Ambrose from turning it to let the lock slide back in, "Move," she nudged Ambrose aside and pulled a small vial from her pocket, pouring a bit of it into the lock.

"What's that?" Rory frowned.

"Some gunpowder I nicked from Guido," she remarked, quickly pulling her lighter and flicking it at the lock, "In a lock…works better than a sonic when it comes to wood."

A small sort of spark went off and Ambrose ran forward, unlocking the door with ease and pulling it open and allowing them all in.

"What the sonic doesn't do wood?" Rory blinked at that, "That is rubbish!"

"Oi!" the Doctor called from inside as they entered, having heard him, "Don't diss the sonic!" Ambrose pulled the door shut behind them as Mac ran over to help the Doctor and check his progress.

"Are you running the scans?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Trying to get a fix…" he focused, his face scrunching in concentration. Mac watched as the computer began to narrow down the area of where the shaking was originating. It was getting worse, items falling off the shelves, nearly getting to the location…when the computer sparked and the power for all the equipment went out.

"No power," the older man, Tony, Mac recalled he'd introduced himself to her earlier, said.

"It's deliberate," the Doctor tried to get the program up.

"What do we do now?" Rory frowned as Mac pulled out her penlight and made for one of the windows.

"Nothing," the Doctor huffed, "We've got nothing! They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems."

"Not nothing," Mac smiled, "Look at you and your tech. I'm the non-tech specialist," she winked and pulled out her mirror, holding it up and smiling, turning it slowly out the window but looking at it intently, "I can see all around the church…"

"Through a sequence of mirrors?" the Doctor blinked.

"Just like the Earth Ancients did to utilize sunlight in tunnels," Mac nodded.

"That is brilliant!"

"I know," she smirked proudly, "Also have lines of fishing line wound around the entrances, each attached to a different chime and whistle, so we know which direction they're coming from, just incase they make it past the mirrors."

The Doctor just shook his head, "I love you."

"Good," she laughed, "Means I get to stick around a bit more."

"I'd love it if you never left actually," the Doctor told her.

As sweet as that was, Rory could feel his nursing instincts kicking in and turned to look at the others, "Is everyone ok? Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine," Nasreen called.

"I'm good," Tony agreed.

"Me too," Ambrose nodded.

Rory looked up, hearing the rumbling getting louder, "Ok, what was that?" he looked at the Doctor, "We thought it might be something drilling up…"

"It is," the Doctor sighed, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

"What is?!" Nasreen huffed, still not knowing what was after them.

"Shh…" Mac put a finger on her lips, hearing the rumbling suddenly go quiet.

"The banging's stopped," Tony remarked.

"Where's Elliot?" Ambrose suddenly asked, looking around the room frantically "Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in?"

"Ambrose," Mac moved over to her, taking her hands, "Ambrose calm down," she looked at the woman, "Ok…who was the last one to see him?"

"Me," the Doctor breathed, closing his eyes as he realized that.

"Where is he?" Ambrose demanded.

"He said he was going to get headphones."

"And you let him go?! He was out there on his own?"

"He could be in another room," Mac tried to reassure her, "I'll go check," she hurried off out a back room. The church was small, but there was still other rooms out there to look into.

No sooner had she gotten halfway through another room did she hear them all starting to shout 'Elliot!' and a banging at the door. She ran back in just in time to see everyone crowded at the door and shoving it open to rush out into the darkness.

"Elliot!" Ambrose cried, "Where is he?" before she ran down the hill, trying to find her son, "He was here. He was here! Elliot!"

"Ambrose, don't go running off!" the Doctor tried to stop her.

"Ambrose!" Tony ran after her.

"Come on," Mac grabbed the Doctor's arm as she ran past, the two of them darting down the hill after the humans, "Rory watch Nasreen!"

"Where are they?" the Doctor looked around, losing sight of them in the dark…

When a series of jingling went off beside them, "That way!" Mac rushed over in that direction, moments before they heard Ambrose cry for her father and saw Tony on the ground with Ambrose kneeling beside him. Mac rushed over and knelt on his other side, "What happened?" she tried to check him over, "Where are you hurt?"

"I'm fine…" Tony tried to wave them off, "I'm fine…"

"Get him into the church now!" the Doctor told Ambrose as she and Mac helped him up.

"Elliot's gone," Ambrose sniffled, tears in her eyes, "They've killed him, haven't they?"

"I don't think so. They've taken three people when they could've just killed them up here."

Mac winced for Ambrose at how the Doctor had said that, "Ambrose, there's hope he's alive. There's no reason to take people unless they want something. If they have Elliot, then they may want to try and negotiate something with us. We can get him back."

"We'll find Elliot, I promise," the Doctor nodded, "But first we've gotta stop this attack."

"We need to make sure they don't get any more of us, so please go in the church and let Rory take a look at your dad, ok?" Mac put a hand on her shoulder, "He's training to be a doctor."

Ambrose nodded, "Come on, dad," she started to help her father back to the church.

"So," Mac looked at the Doctor, "Thing or plan?"

"How about a bit of both?" he suggested with a grin, "Best team out there, a Time Lord and Lady eh?"

Mac smiled at that, "Yeah."

"Though, you're the better half," he told her, "You always were my better half."

"Oh no," she joked, "That was definitely the Master, the other half of the dastardly duo."

The Doctor shook his head at her as she headed off, the Master would always be his closest friend…but Mac…she would always be so much more than that.

~8~

Meals on Wheels had been a stroke of genius to use as a holding cell for the creature the Time Lords had found in the forests around the church. Even more clever had been to blast it with the fire extinguisher Mac had gone back to the church to nick. The Doctor had mentioned the dual hot and cold readings he'd picked up on the scans just before Amy had been taken, and he'd done a bit of reconnaissance and spotted something cold blooded that was hiding around. A fire extinguisher was all they needed to stun it long enough for Mac to throw a blanket over it and shove it into the back of the truck. Cold blood meant it slowed down in the cold.

The rumbling had started off again, the light returning to them, and they realized that Elliot and Amy would be safe from that moment on. They now had one of the creatures, the species wouldn't dare attempt to harm the humans with one of their own being prisoner. If they wanted the creature back safe, they'd have to return the humans safely as well. All that was left was to find out more from the creature about what was going on, as much as they could learn, whatever they could learn, would only help them understand the best way to proceed with negotiations. It was quite lucky for the Time Lords that the Doctor had encountered them and Mac had read about them. And so they made their way to the basement where they'd chained the creature up, Rory staying above ground with Ambrose, Tony, and Nasreen. The man kept insisting he was fine and not allowing Rory to look at him so Rory had taken it upon himself to watch the man for any signs something might be wrong.

They paused in the doorway to the basement, looking at the creature a moment. It was reptilian, green scales visible along the top of its head, wearing an obvious grey mask with large slanted black eyes and an even more reptilian face. It was wearing a sort of chain mail, armor if they had to guess, and was just sitting there with its hands bound, hissing at them when it caught sight of them.

Mac took a breath and headed over to the creature, crouching down before it and pulling out her ID, "I'm Agent Mackenzie, of UNIT," she told it, "An organization that deals with anything that's not human," it hissed at that word.

"And I'm the Doctor," he added, "We've really just come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask," he reached forward slowly and pulled the gray portion off, revealing a more human-like face but covered in green scales, "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if we sit?" he moved over and grabbed a folding chair, the only one there and opened it…before just standing there realizing there was only one, "Um…you can have it Kenzie."

"No, it's alright," Mac murmured, eyeing the reptile.

"Or, um…we can share?" he asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

"I'm fine thanks," Mac shook her head.

The Doctor pouted at that a moment before he sat on the chair and crossed his legs and arms, "Your people have a friend of ours. We want her back."

"Why come to the surface in the first place?" Mac asked it, "Was there some sort of resource you needed? Are you a scavenging party?"

"Oh do speak up. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species," it hissed.

"Hardly," Mac shook her head.

"No," the Doctor agreed, "'Last of the species?' The Klempari Defense. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species," it glared at them.

"My traps went off all around us," Mac countered, "We heard more of you than just you."

"On top of that, WE are the last of our species," the Doctor added, a hard edge in his voice, "And we know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult us."

"Let's try this again," Mac took a breath, "For every lie, we'll count it as a strike against your people. You want the Silurian image tarnished because of you?"

The creature looked startled that they knew her species.

"Tell us your name."

"Alaya," she answered.

"There, was that so hard?"

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya?" the Doctor wondered, "It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked!"

"Attacked?" Mac frowned back at the Doctor, not sure how that could happen with humans who hadn't even realized they were there…

"The drill," the Doctor realized, making Mac nod.

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems," Alaya informed them, "The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

"They're called HUMANS, not Vermin," Mac told her.

"They're really very nice," the Doctor agreed.

"Primitive apes," Alaya spat.

"Extraordinary species."

"Look," Mac cut in, "If you attack them, they WILL attack you back. Most humans will try not to provoke a fight, but they will fight if pushed."

"But," the Doctor added, "There's a peace to be brokered here. We can help you with that."

"This land is ours," Alaya glared, "We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You wouldn't be the first to try," Mac challenged, "And yet they're STILL here. You want to know why? Everyone always underestimates them."

"You underestimate us!"

The Doctor shook his head, "One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans? You've got your work cut out."

"We did not initiate combat!" Alaya pushed herself to her feet, "But we can still win."

"Not if WE join the fight against you," Mac warned, "So you tell us where our friend is and return the people you took, and we work towards peace instead of war."

"No."

The Doctor sighed, looking at Mac and shaking his head, this wasn't going to work. He reached out and took her hands, helping her up, "We're not going let you provoke a war, Alaya," he glanced at Mac as she put the chair away, "There'll be no battle here today."

"The fire of war is already lit," Alaya hissed as they headed for the door, "A massacre is due."

"No," Mac shook her head, "That won't happen. We won't let it."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

The Doctor gave her one more saddened look before he turned and led Mac out of the room, both of them all too aware of what they'd sacrifice to save the humans.

~8~

"You're going to what?!" Rory demanded as they all gathered in another room of the church, the Doctor having told the humans what the next course of action was.

"We're going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them," the Doctor stated.

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose frowned at him.

"Not technically aliens," Mac countered, "They lived on Earth long before you. Silurians, Eocenes, Homo Reptilia…which ever you prefer."

"Yes, they've got proper names," the Doctor nodded, "Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. Look, from their point of view, your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt, her name's Alaya, she's one of their warriors and she's our best bargaining chip. We need her alive," he gave them a pointed look, Mac starting to frown when she saw the way Ambrose was shifting at that, how Tony was scoffing and rolling his eyes, "If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy. Because we will find them. While we're gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

"What if they come back?" Tony asked, "Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"Ok," Mac shook her head, "This isn't going to work," she turned to the Doctor, "I'm going to stay up here."

"Kenzie…" he frowned.

"Doctor," she cut in, "You know as well as I do how…hysteria manifests, how savage things can get when desperation sets in," she spoke quietly to him though the humans could still hear her, "With them up here and us down there, them not able to track our progress? It'll be a nightmare, a disaster. I'll stay here, keep an eye on them, make sure Alaya REMAINS safe."

"I don't like how we keep getting pulled away from each other," he admitted to her, "It feels like everything keeps doing that. I wanted you to stay in the TARDIS with me so we could try and spend time together."

"And we have," she nodded, "And we will, but you can admit Doctor, this adventure, this situation is far too delicate to leave to chance and faith in humanity. I've seen…the first stirrings of how badly this can go already."

He frowned at her so she added, '_Ambrose had weapons in her car,_' silently to him so he'd understand, '_And it's HER child, YOU know better than me the lengths you'd go to save them…if we leave Ambrose alone for too long…_' she shook her head and he had to nod at that, Ambrose, her fear for her husband and son and her anger at the creatures attacking her father…it would make her vulnerable and desperate and hateful…everything that could lead to the worst in humanity.

"Ok," he sighed, "Kenzie will stay here and keep an eye on you lot," he looked at the humans, seeing Rory appeared a bit relieved at that, that he wouldn't be responsible for the other humans by himself, "We return their hostage, they return ours. Nobody gets harmed. We can land this, together," he looked at them intently, "If you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

The humans began to nod, Nasreen offering him a hearty clap till she realized no one else was.

The Doctor sighed and looked at Mac, "Take this," he handed her a bit of paper.

"Your psychic paper?" she frowned.

"The spare," he shrugged, before pulling out his own in his wallet and sonicing them both, "They'll pick up messages from the other, keep you up to date and so."

Mac nodded, "I don't really need this though," she told him, "I know you'll do it."

He smiled at that, "Bet your life on it?"

"Always," she laughed lightly.

"It's um…it's actually more for ME than you," he added quietly, "I…" he glanced at the humans, "Would it be entirely terrible of me to say I don't want to leave you around the humans?"

"No," she answered, "Because you know what it's like, humans on buses," she joked, "This is just humans in churches. Same principle though."

He took a deep breath, "First sign that they may turn on you…you call me," he waved the wallet at her before putting it away, "And I'll come running."

"And if you run into any trouble," she added, slapping her paper on his shoulder, "Let me know so I can work out a way down there to rescue you."

The Doctor laughed at that but stepped forward, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to the top of her hair, before he pulled back, gently touching her cheek for a moment, before stepping away and walking off, only Mac and Tony noticing Nasreen slip out after him.

~8~

Mac led the humans down to see Alaya, Ambrose having tried to sneak down there herself when Mac caught her and decided to chaperone the trip, make sure nothing was said in anger that would jeopardize their chances of a clean hostage swap.

Alaya was on her feet in moments, "You had to come and see me."

"We are going to keep you safe," Rory told her.

"Your tribe are going to give us back our people, in exchange for you," Ambrose nodded.

Alaya smirked, "No," and took a few more steps closer, as close as her chains would allow, "Shall I tell you what's _really_ going to happen, apes? One of you will kill me. My death shall ignite a war. And every stinking ape shall be wiped from the surface of my beloved planet."

"We won't allow that to happen," Tony stated.

"I know apes better than you know yourselves. I know which one of you will kill me. Do you?"

"Yes," Mac nodded, "I do and, as I am NOT an 'ape' as you seem fond to call them, you _really_ think I'd let it happen?" she shook her head, "I was one of the negotiators for my organization, Alaya. I know what you are trying to do and I know which of the humans are most likely to make an attempt at you for it. You may know the humans better than they do, but you do NOT know me."

Alaya hissed at her, narrowing her eyes but stepped back to her wall, glaring as Mac just turned and led the humans out of the room. She stood there, waiting till Ambrose and Tony had walked off in opposite directions, before she pulled out the psychic paper, having felt it grow hot in her pocket.

"What is it?" Rory frowned when he saw her staring at the paper in dismay.

Mac just shook her head and held it up for him to see the message from the Doctor.

'Slight miscalculation. Sort of stumbled on an entire CITY of Silurians…'

To be continued...

A/N: OMG! Sorry, I'm just REALLY excited! ^-^ I was checking my story stats (I tend to do it on the first saturday of the month) and I realized that every single story in the HOTS except 1 has hit more than 100,000 views! O.O The only one that missed the mark was Mated Souls, which makes sense as I've noticed the 10-specials don't get as many hits as the regular series, but I'm just squealing! Every single story in an entire series but 1! ^-^ And I know I have all of YOU to thank for that, you guys are the most incredible readers in the world and I love you all so much :')

I also want to apologize if there are any errors in this chapter. Yesterday I was stuck at a racetrack from 7 in the morning till about 11 pm (urgh) and I was exhausted while giving the chapter a read through/edit. I'll probably go through it again today to check for any I might have missed :)

As for this chapter, I thought it might be interesting to have Mac above ground and keeping an eye out ;) I wonder if she'll notice Ambrose or not }:) We'll also see quite a bit more of her paperclips and string skills ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I can say River's not Mac's daughter-in-law, nope ;) I don't think it was the kids being scared of the Doctor but more 'a' doctor, like getting check ups and all the cold instruments and things. It's one way to look at it, another could be that the Cabria know who THE Doctor is and they could be past enemies of his ;)

Lol, thanks! I went back and fixed it ;) I definitely try to keep the stories as realistic as possible :)

I would love to hide my dad's car...but I can't drive stick shift. He doesn't have a laptop. And he only watches TV when my mother does so that would be punishing her too :( If I had the money, I SO would have moved out by now. I had the chance to once, a gated community 5 minutes away from my work for $500 a month...and, of course, I find out my parents were a few months behind on mortgage payments and the banks were calling so there went those plans :( -sigh-

Oh I remember the hologram appeared in Berlin, but he didn't even mention their names except for Amy's :( I feel like that was one brief moment that was more like a last ditch effort to appease fans than because the Doctor actually _wanted_ to think on his past friends. I'm more ok with the TARDIS console rooms not appearing because it's a machine that can't exactly communicate the past companions or versions of itself where the Doctor can actively talk about it :) I don't feel like bringing in the Ood was huge shout out to the RTD era either :( Mostly because, in comparison to the importance the companions have in his life, the Ood were more just other aliens/enemies to be brought back in and not someone really meaningful to the Doctor. The Ood, I feel, could be interchanged easily within their species, whereas there's only one Martha Jones, Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Sarah Jane Smith, Jo Grant, etc :) Sorry you hate female villains, the Dream Lady was mostly to balance out how many times it was just the Doctor's evil persona in the chapters ;)

Lol, my mom scared our dog during a football game once. She started screaming 'why did they score a touchdown!?' and our dog thought she was having some sort of attack and freaked out and jumped on her to try and calm her down :) I think it's definitely ironic they were Autons, maybe it's a metaphor that they feel worthless and, with how common plastic is...Autons are almost worthless? Hmm...could be one way to look at it :) Yup, Mac is TL4, the next TL will be TL7 (the Doctor's wife), and TL5 will be the last one for the year, I can't give away too much, but I can say that she's got a very powerful connection to the Doctor despite them being strangers ;)

I can say Mac will realize the flirting before the end of this story ;) In a very sweet moment where she reveals something to the Doctor that makes him realize why she hasn't noticed too ;) I have all my future OCs outlined yup ;) I can say the next OC will come in at Series 7 (mostly, we'll glimpse her at 2 points prior to that series) and will be the Doctor's wife from Gallifrey ;)

Rory, in this story, blames Amy more for what happened than the Doctor. He appreciates the Doctor telling him the truth about the situation and coming to get him and pushing Amy away, he respects him and he trusts him because he can see that the Doctor is interested in Mac and not lying to him :) So Rory doesn't have a grudge in this story nope :) He sort of assumes that, given how the Doctor is with Mac, that he's been that way the entire time and NOT giving Amy any signs he likes her like that, and it's all in Amy's head ;) The dream children were more a representation of both children who are just scared of going to the doctor's office (cold stethoscopes, needles, pokes and prods) and also the Cabria who may or may not be enemies of the Doctor and know who THE Doctor is ;)


	10. Cold Blood

Cold Blood

Mac slowly wandered around the outside of the church, double checking the mirrors and other small alarm systems. The Doctor had found an entire city of Silurians, which meant there was a very large chance that one of their numbers might try to have a rescue mission dispatched for Alaya. She had to make sure that they kept Alaya while also keeping the reptile safe. She was picking up a few odds and ends as she went. If there was an attack it was best to be prepared and to have some way to defend themselves. She'd set Rory to searching the rooms of the church for anything that might be able to be used as a bandage or some sort of medical help if anyone got hurt. She made a mental note that she had to check on Tony, she was quite sure there was something going on with him that he wasn't letting on and he was avoiding Rory so she was sure it was something medical he was hiding.

She slowed though, when she spotted Ambrose kneeling on the ground, holding headphones in her hand, Elliot's headphones, and slowly headed over, setting her items on a large rock on the way, "Ambrose?"

Ambrose sniffled and straightened but didn't look back at her, "You lied. You told us you were the police."

"No, you assumed I was police, I believe I introduced myself as an agent of UNIT," Mac corrected.

"Are you even that?" Ambrose shook her head, turning to look at Mac over her shoulder, "Who are you? You and the Doctor? Why is this happening to us? What did we ever do?"

Mac took a deep breath, "The Doctor and I are Time Lords," she explained, knowing that Ambrose wouldn't appreciate lies, "We're an ancient race of, well, aliens I suppose, and we try to help you, humans especially, but really anyone who's in danger or being threatened. This is happening because that drill was getting too close to a settlement that the Silurians were sleeping in and they thought you were attacking them," she moved and knelt beside Ambrose, putting a hand on her shoulder, "It wasn't anything specific that you did, just…events."

"And now my son and husband have been taken," Ambrose murmured.

"I trust the Doctor, I believe he'll get Elliot back," she squeezed Ambrose's shoulder, "Ambrose…I lost my son," she offered, making Ambrose's head snap over to look at her, "He died, in my arms. I swear to you, I will _not_ see another mother experience that loss if I can help it," she looked at her meaningfully, "And the Doctor…he lost his children too, in a war. We both love children and we would both die to protect them. The Doctor WILL get Elliot back, I know he will. Until then…we need to stick together and be strong. We keep Alaya safe, we keep Elliot safe, just remember that."

"Will the Doctor stop them?" Ambrose asked, "These…Silurians? Will he stop them attacking us again?"

"He won't kill them if that's what you're asking," Mac shook her head, "He'll do more than just negotiate the return of Elliot," she added, "I think…he may want to negotiate the Silurians coming to the surface permanently."

"What!?" Ambrose gaped at her, "He'd…he'd let those monsters invade our world!?"

Mac sighed, "They're not monsters, they're the ones who had this planet first. For all intents and purposes, they're a people who want their home back and wake to find someone else has taken it. Like…Goldilocks," she offered, "The bears step out a moment and this little human comes into their house and eats their food and breaks their chairs and sleeps in their beds. And…yes, the Doctor will help them come back to their home, and SHARE it with you."

"Why would he do that?" Ambrose shook her head, "They attacked us!"

"The Time Lords come from a planet called Gallifrey," Mac answered after a moment, "And that war…Gallifrey was destroyed, for the sake of saving your life and every single life in the universe," she grew serious, solemn and quiet, "We don't have a planet to call our home anymore Ambrose, we can understand the Silurians wanting to return to their home. But," she added, seeing Ambrose about to argue that again, "We also care about you humans SO much. We don't want you to LOSE your home just because the Silurians might wake up. We want you both to have a home. And if he can, I think the Doctor will try to see that happen. He wants a happy ending for both sides."

Ambrose sighed, "So that's it then?" she murmured, "We just…sit and wait?"

"For the moment," she nodded, "We wait, we keep Alaya safe, and then…we get your son back."

Ambrose slowly stood and moved to head back into the church.

Mac watched her go before she took a deep breath and let it out, getting up and gathering her various items again. She stepped into the church and over to the small tables that the Doctor had had the equipment on, all cleared away though one was cracked open for wires to use and another computer was set up on the side still intact incase power came back on to use. She moved over and placed the pile of items on it, Rory looking up from where he was working on creating bandages across from her.

He stepped over, around the tables, and picked up a rock that was sitting in the middle of strips of cloth, 2 compact makeup mirrors, a box of matches, and a small bag of black powder, "Um..." he just gave her a look for it.

Mac shrugged, "Resources," she glanced at him, "Did you find the items I asked about?"

He nodded, "Found two," he reached over and held up cloth water bottles, "They were hidden at the bottom of a first aid kit I found."

She smiled, "Brilliant," and pulled out a few items she'd nicked from the van.

"Vegetable oil, baking soda, vinegar, pepper..."

"Cayenne pepper," Mac corrected.

"Ok, right," Rory nodded, "Why?"

"Precautions," Mac shrugged, "How are your supplies going?" she looked up at him.

"Bandages, band aids, some small tweezers, and needle and thread," he listed, "I've got another kit to go through though..."

"Good," she nodded, "I'm going to go check on Alaya, I was just talking to Ambrose and well," she shrugged, giving him a pointed look.

Rory nodded and waved her off, understanding, Ambrose and Tony were the ones most likely to attack Alaya, it was their family in danger. He turned back to his supplies, glancing at the rather odd pile of items across from him as she stepped out. What Mac was going to do with all that he had no idea and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

~8~

Mac slowly made her way down the stairs and towards the basement where they were keeping Alaya…only to slow when she heard Tony inside, sounding like he was nearly crying in pain, "…burning in my blood. Please. If you help me, I can help you. If you could cure me, I could help you escape."

Mac closed her eyes at that, she should have come down earlier.

"You see?" Alaya hissed, "You beg, and offer betrayal, so early! Why would I want to escape when I can watch you die? The first ape death of the coming war."

"The first ape to NEARLY die before negotiations take place," Mac called as she strode into the room, grabbing Tony's arm as he tried to quickly button up his shirt again, stopping him so she could see that his entire chest appeared to be throbbing green veins. Her lips pursed as she looked at him, "You should have told us about this," she warned him, "This is something we needed to know."

"I'm sorry I…" Tony shook his head, though he winced, his other hand flying to his chest in pain.

"He shall die," Alaya sneered, "And the flames of war shall spread."

"Oh he's not going to die," Mac scoffed at her, "It's venom," she moved over to the woman, "All it requires is an anti-venom," and crouched before her, pulling out a small vial from her pocket, the scientist in her from UNIT still very much present, "So if you would be so kind as to provide a sample?"

"I will never help the apes!" she snapped.

Mac blinked at her before crossing her arms on her knee, "You listen to me, Alaya, I'm a Time Lord. My planet is gone. Earth just so happens to be a place that I consider to be almost a second home and on it are humans I will fight to defend. So…you either give me a sample of your venom…"

"And if I don't?" Alaya glared.

"I have no problems with cutting out your tongue to get it," Mac held up her pocket knife, the knife out, "You would live and you would be unable to try and whisper poison in the ears of Tony or Ambrose and manipulate them into making you a martyr," she stared Alaya in the eye, "So what shall it be? Venom…or will you find yourself incapable of communicating your 'harsh treatment' by the apes to your people."

Alaya nearly growled at her, her lip curling, before she leaned forward. Mac held up the vial and Alaya put her mouth on it, wincing slightly as she forced venom out of her tongue, the green substance dripping down into the vial as Mac smiled.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" she stood, turning to take Tony's arm and lead him out of there, "Thank god she didn't call my bluff," she muttered to him as she pulled him up the stairs.

"Bluff?" he frowned at her.

She looked at him, "I don't favor the idea of cutting out tongues," she told him.

Tony blinked and let out a breathy laugh at how she'd fooled the Silurian, "Will you…will you really be able to do something with that," he nodded at the venom.

Mac sighed, "I can try," she told him, "Anti-venom will be hard to make in conditions like this, no lab, no microscope, nothing…but…there might be a way to at least nullify the affects, slow it down, till we can get you more help."

"Thank you," he whispered.

She nodded, "But we're having Rory check you out first," she added, pulling him back into the room she and Rory had been in…only to see Ambrose was there as well.

"Dad!" the woman gasped, rushing to help Mac, "Are you alright? Dad!"

"Ambrose, I'm fine!" Tony tried to wave her off, "Leave me alone," but he stumbled to the side, falling to lean heavily on a stack of old crates.

"You are not fine," Rory walked over, "Let me have a look…"

"Don't…" Tony tried to stop him, not wanting Ambrose to see the state of his chest.

"I'm a_ nurse_," Rory reminded him, tugging the shirt open to see the veins.

"Oh, my God, Dad!" Ambrose gasped.

Rory let out a breath, "You should've told me."

"I don't know what's happening to me," Tony swallowed hard.

"You're mutating," Mac told him, "The venom of a Silurian is meant to kill. You must be one of the lucky few with a genetic abnormality that just mutates the venom instead."

"What do we do?" Ambrose looked at Mac.

"I'm going to work on trying to create something to slow the venom down, hopefully even nullify it," she told the woman, "Until then, we need to treat his symptoms. Rory?"

Rory nodded, "Ok, first things first, we need to bring his temperature down," Rory pulled his hand away from Tony's head, "Come on, I saw a cot in another room, we need to get you lying down, Ambrose?" Ambrose rushed to his side, the two of them heaving Tony up and leading him out.

Mac watched them go for a moment, before she looked at the venom. She knew enough of Silurians that she might be able to find a way to neutralize it, maybe, if she was lucky, with the items they had there…but she'd have to be careful with the venom, the vial was likely all she'd be able to get out of Alaya and if she wasted it all in her testing then it would be pointless to keep going.

She set the vial down and moved over to the first aid kits, looking through it to see what sort of chemicals there might be…

~8~

Mac looked up from where she was hunched over the venom, dripping a concoction that she'd had in a paper cup from an eyedropper over it, frowning as the single drop of venom sizzled but didn't do anything else, "How's it going?" Rory asked as he entered.

"Slower than if I had the TARDIS or my lab," she murmured, "How's Tony?"

"Doing better, you were right," he added, "The cold foods from the truck are helping slow down the process."

She'd shouted it out to him after her first attempt at slowing the venom. With Silurians being cold blooded and slowing down when they were exposed to the cold, she'd thought perhaps it might work with the venom as well. Rory an Ambrose had gathered a few frozen items to try and place on Tony's chest to slow it down.

"He's sleeping now."

Mac nodded, "And Ambrose?"

Rory frowned at that, "She didn't come through here?"

"Why would she?"

"She said she needed air."

Mac blinked for only a moment before it hit her, "She's gone after Alaya!" she gasped, rushing out of the room, Rory following her as they flew down the stairs, hearing a pained screaming coming from the basement room. They ran in to see Ambrose hunched over the Silurian, on the ground, and pressing a taser into Alaya's chest.

"Ambrose stop!" Rory shouted, grabbing the woman and pulling her off of Alaya.

Mac ran over and grabbed the taser from her, "What is WRONG with you!?"

"She kept taunting me about Mo and Elliot and dad and…" Ambrose began.

"Rory?" Mac looked over at him, but he shook his head, Alaya was fading fast, "Damn it Ambrose!" she snapped, before rushing out of the room, hoping she'd have enough time to get what she needed.

Ambrose sobbed, sliding against the wall, "She wouldn't tell me anything. I thought sooner or later, she'd give in. I would've done. I just...I just want my family back!"

"How do we help you?" Rory asked Alaya, "Tell us what to do."

But Alaya just smirked, "I knew this would come. And soon the war."

"You're not dying," Rory shook his head, "I'm not going to let you, not today..."

Alaya moaned and her head fell to the side, Rory quickly checking her vitals before he closed his eyes.

"What is it?" Ambrose sniffled.

"She's gone…" he swallowed hard, "And so's our only chance to negotiate…"

"Not quite," Mac ran back in, dumping an armful of items on the ground.

"What are you…" Ambrose began, seeing two old candlesticks from one of the cupboards she'd seen before, a plastic floormat from the van, and…wires from the equipment before her, "What are you doing?"

"Fixing your mistake," Mac muttered, "And hopefully keeping your son alive since you don't seem to care enough to do it yourself."

"How dare…"

"You nearly cost him his life!" Mac snapped at her, "Now sit down and shut up and let me try to save her! Rory!" Mac turned to him, not meaning to shout at him but very angry at the moment.

"What do you need me to do?" he nodded, not at all disturbed by her shouts.

"Get her armor off the top of her chest," she tossed him her pocket knife.

But he tossed it back, "Got it," he held up one of his own, making her smirk despite the situation.

She took the knife back and began to pull apart the taser, grabbing one of the wires and attaching it to the device. She connected the wire to two others, separating them and wrapping them around the candlesticks.

"Now what?" Rory called when he finished.

"Cut the mats up into small squares," she ordered and he did that, "Give them to me," she took them and wrapped them around the middle of the candle sticks, creating a protective covering for her hand that wouldn't conduct the electricity of the taser, "Take this," she tossed him the taser, moving to put the candle sticks on the top of Alaya's heart and on the side, just under her armpit, "On three…" she looked at him, Rory's eyes widening as he realized she'd made a makeshift defibrillator, "One…two…three!"

Rory hit the button and Alaya's body jerked off the ground, before falling down again as Rory let go of the button. Mac leaned forward and listened for Alaya's breathing and her heart.

"One more time," she called, setting up again, "One…two…three!"

Rory hit the button again and Alaya jerked…but fell back down with a gasp as the taser sparked, shorting out just as Mac pulled the holders away, the reptile breathing again.

"That was…" Rory breathed, staring at Mac.

"FAR too close," she agreed, far too lucky that the taser had made it to that last jolt. She's ripped out the safety mechanisms to allow the full capability of the device.

"No," Rory shook his head, "Amazing…you…and candlestick holders and…a taser?!"

Mac looked up at him and started to laugh, "Good thing it worked, I was only half sure it would," she let out a very long breath and sat back on her legs, Alaya breathing but unconscious.

~8~

Mac half shoved Ambrose into the main room of the church, "You sit there," she pointed at a crate, "And you don't move or so help me I will tape your hands together and your mouth shut. Have you any idea what you cost us?!"

"She's fine though," Ambrose argue quietly as she slowly sat on the crate, "The…the Silurian, she's alive."

"Thankfully," Mac nodded, "But you don't understand. You attacked her! You attacked a hostage. That gives them right to attack theirs. Do YOU want Elliot to be attacked, to be tased to DEATH?!"

"Don't…don't say that," Ambrose winced.

"Why not?" Mac shook her head, "That girl down there? Alaya? She's someone's daughter! You just attacked and KILLED someone's daughter. YOU should be one of the best ones to empathize to how to treat a hostage because you ARE a mother! My god Ambrose!" Mac took a breath, "This changes nothing. You attacked our hostage, you killed her, just because I brought her back won't change anything! We bring her back, she'll tell them what happened, how she was treated and that will do NOTHING towards getting your son returned to you."

Ambrose sniffled and looked to the side, ashamed…only to gasp when she saw one of the monitors flicker on on the equipment, static there before it changed to an image of a Silurian with red markings along her scales, "Oh, my God."

"Who is the ape leader?" the Silurian demanded as they looked over at it.

"It's them," she breathed, "How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?!"

"Who speaks for the apes?!"

Mac looked at Rory, "You're the only one I trust right now."

Rory turned to her, startled, "ME?!"

"I'm not human, Rory," she whispered to him.

"But you look it," he countered.

Mac sighed and pulled out the psychic paper, 'Bit of a bind, had to say I was a Time Lord, now about to be executed. But it's fine! It's all fine! I have a plan…well, a thing…a very good thing!'

"If I start talking, they'll realize I'm not human either," she added, "You know what a typical human would about them…I'll end up talking like I'm still in UNIT and they won't trust that. You've got an honest face Rory. You can do it. I'll be right here."

Rory took a breath and turned to the monitor, "I speak for the...humans. Some of us, anyway."

"Do you understand who we are?" the Silurian demanded.

"Sort of," he nodded, "A bit," before shaking his head, "Not really."

"We have ape hostages."

Mac let out a sigh as the image zoomed out to reveal it wasn't just the Doctor who was apparently about to be executed as she could see Amy and Nasreen tied to pillars with another man she could only assume was Mo, he looked a bit like Elliot.

"Oh Doctor," Mac sighed, but he just winked at her, grinning.

"Amy!" Rory nearly ran to the monitor.

"Mo!" Ambrose gasped, "Mo, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, love!" Mo nodded, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!"

"Amy," Rory smiled at her, "I thought I'd lost you!"

"What, cos I was sucked into the ground?" Amy teased, "You're so clingy," but the wink she gave him after told him she was rather fond of his clinging.

Mac had to smile at that though, she'd noticed a lot of things Amy had originally seemed irritated by she was finding cuter on Rory than before. His clinging nature seemed to make her feel wanted and desired that he always wanted to be around her.

"Not to interrupt," the Doctor cut in, "But just a quick reminder to stay calm."

"Show me Alaya," the Silurian demanded, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends…one by one."

"No!" Ambrose tried to push her way forward.

But Mac pulled her back and pointed at her, "Ambrose…stop it."

"We didn't start this!" Ambrose argued.

"But you sure as hell nearly finished it," Mac gave her a pointed look, "DON'T make the same mistake now and let Rory deal with this."

"I just want my family back!" Ambrose started to cry, "Give me back my family!" she shouted at the screen even as Mac started to pull Ambrose away from the screen, trying to get her out of the room as she struggled.

"I will not be ordered about by apes!" the Silurian snarled, "Execute the girl!"

"No!" Rory cried as Amy was shoved away from a pillar, a line of Silurians appearing at the bottom of the screen with guns aimed at her, "No, wait!"

"Rory!" Amy screamed.

"Ambrose is not the ape ambassador," Mac rushed back over, "She is not their representative!"

"There's no need for this..." the Doctor tried.

"Listen!" Rory called, "Listen! Whatever you want...we'll do it!"

"Aim," the Silurian ordered as everyone started screaming for Amy, begging the Silurians not to do this…when the screen flickered to static.

"NO!" Rory hit the monitor, needing the feed to pick up again, trying everything he could think of to get it back, "Nothing!" he turned to Mac, "We've got to get down there!"

"Rory wait!" Mac pulled him back, "Look…"

Rory turned around to see the picture had come back, "Rory!" the Doctor was there smiling away, "Hello!"

"Where's Amy?" Rory asked instantly.

"She's fine, look, here, she is," he turned to the side to reveal Amy standing behind him.

"Oh, thank God," he closed his eyes, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Keeping you on your toes!" Amy waved.

"No time to chat," the Doctor cut in, "Listen, Kenzie, I need you to get everyone down here."

"Ok," Mac nodded, "I'm assuming transport discs and geothermal energy? Gravity bubble-tech? Like they're known for?"

"Correctamundo," he pointed at her, cheering, "They'll send it up to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise."

"Doctor!" Mac called.

"Got to dash!" he kept speaking, "Hurry up!"

Mac closed her eyes a moment as the signal cut.

"The moment Alaya tells them…it'll fall apart, won't it?" Ambrose asked from the doorway, her voice quiet.

"No matter what happens, we need to bring her back," Rory sighed, "She needs medical attention and we can't give her that."

Mac nodded, "Ambrose get Tony up, Rory Alaya."

"What about you?" Ambrose frowned as Rory instantly went to do as he was told.

Mac looked at her pile of objects, "I'm going to prepare for the worst," she told her, giving her a pointed look as Ambrose bowed her head and went to get her father.

Mac rubbed her head a moment, before she headed over to her pile, looking down at the psychic paper a moment before sending out a message.

'We have a problem.'

~8~

The small group of four made it to the drill site, looking down at the five discs that were waiting for them in the middle of the earth, Alaya in Rory's arms as neither he nor Mac trusted Ambrose or Tony enough to allow them near the Silurian again.

"So we get on those, and they take us down through the Earth?" Tony asked, shifting a little, he had a few pop-able ice packs on his chest from the first aid kits, wrapped around him with an ace bandage.

"Yeah," Mac nodded.

"They sent five," Ambrose looked at Alaya, still unconscious, "She was our only bargaining chip…" the 'and now she's damaged' was left unsaid.

"We have to hand her back," Rory said, "She's still alive, there's still a chance."

"Not as good a one as there would have been," Mac muttered, "Come on, Rory, I'll help you get Alaya secured with you…" she helped move Rory onto the disc, calling out, "Where are you going?" to Ambrose and Tony as the woman tried to pull him out of the room.

"I just…want to make sure that the drill won't power on again," Ambrose told them.

Tony sighed, "It's set on dig schedules. I shut it off before, but it's set to start digging again in an hour, I have to override the commands and…"

"Just go," Mac waved him off, "Hurry back."

"Think they're telling the truth?" Rory asked her quietly.

"I have to hope for the best in humanity," she murmured, praying that her faith that Ambrose had learned her lesson was founded but fearing it may not me, "And I need just a few more minutes to prepare incase that's wrong," she added, before turning to kneel on the ground, opening a small bag she'd grabbed to sling over her shoulder, across her chest, with the finished products of her piles of odds and ends inside.

~8~

The small group followed Mac as she headed through the citadel that they'd landed in, following the directions the Doctor had sent her on the psychic paper towards the courtroom, the doors opening to reveal the Doctor, Nasreen, Amy, Mo, Elliot, and a Silurian elder gathered within.

"Here they are," the Doctor said as he saw Mac and Tony enter first, rushing over to give her a tight hug, spinning her around before he hugged her again tighter than before. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent, trying to savor her in his arms as long as possible. He'd gotten her message, she'd told him about Alaya, and he couldn't be more proud of her for getting the Silurian back and keeping Ambrose from truly destroying every bit of chance they had. He knew there was still a very BIG risk that Restac, the Silurian commander who had tried to execute them, would declare war for what happened to Alaya, the two being sisters, but he was hoping Eldane, the Elder behind him, might be able to help.

"Mum!" Elliot cried as he ran for his mother as she followed Tony, "Granddad!"

"Rory?" Amy breathed as Rory entered, carrying Alaya, the Silurian still unconscious in his arms.

The Doctor watched as Rory set Alaya down gently and moved to check her, with the sonic, "Why would you do this Ambrose?" he asked her.

Ambrose swallowed hard, aware that everyone was staring at her now, Elliot backing away from her, "I just wanted my family back," Ambrose told him pitifully.

"I apologize," Mac turned to the Silurian elder, "She slipped past me and I did all I could to revive Alaya. She has breath in her body, but she may need more attention to fully heal."

"I didn't know," the Doctor added, "I didn't know till I was walking back with Mo and Elliot, you have to believe me, they're better than this."

"I hope you are happy Ambrose," Mac shook her head at her, "We had a chance for true peace without the risk of war."

"I know," Ambrose looked down.

"In future," the Doctor looked at her, "When you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity."

Mac stiffened, seeing the Silurian commander entering, armed soldiers on either side of her, "My sister!" she gasped, rushing to kneel beside Alaya, "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?"

"She's alive," Rory tried to tell her, "She just needs to be looked after…"

"One woman," the Doctor added, knowing Restac could work out how her sister had ended up like this, "She was scared for her family. She's not typical."

"I think she is," Restac hissed.

"One person let us down," the Doctor turned to Eldane, "But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up here. You were building something, here, come on...an alliance could work!"

And then Ambrose said the five words that made the entire situation fall apart, "It's too late for that."

"Why?"

"Ambrose…" Mac looked at her, "What did you do!?"

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again," Ambrose told them, sticking up her chin, "In…" she checked her watch, "15 minutes."

"What?!" Nasreen cried and looked at Tony in alarm.

"What choice did I have?" Tony shook his head, "They had Elliot."

"And what, you thought that threatening them would be the way to make peace?!" Mac gaped.

"You said they may attack because of that one," Ambrose gestured at Alaya, two soldiers carrying the woman out of the room to be tended to, "I had to be sure Elliot would be safe!"

"Don't do this," the Doctor turned to Eldane, "Don't call their bluff."

"I actually thought you had a chance to learn from your mistakes Ambrose," Mac told her, disappointed.

"They just need to let us go back and promise to never come to the surface ever again and we'll walk away and leave them alone," Ambrose told them.

Mac closed her eyes and slowly moved back, subtly reaching into her bag for her supplies, knowing a battle might be about to start.

"Execute her!" Restac ordered, pointing at Ambrose.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, only for something to go flying past his shoulder and strike one of the Silurians who had lifted their weapon at Ambrose in the head, sending it falling to the ground, scrambling to get up. He spun around, yelling, "No weapons!"

To see Mac standing there, a rock in hand as she put it in a small sling, like a scarf or handkerchief she was holding on both ends, the rock resting in the curve of it, "It's a rock and scarf Doctor," Mac called back, swinging the sling around and throwing the rock at another Silurian that was about to attack, "Fall back!" she commanded the others, grabbing one of the cloth water bottles from her bag, the bag appearing already full, and stabbed it with her pocket knife, sliding it down the floor with a flick of her wrist.

The Doctor frowned, seeing the Silurians cry out in pain and grip their eyes, "What was that?"

"Homemade tear gas!" she shouted, baking soda, vinegar, and cayenne pepper, "Now run!" she pushed him on, the two of them running after the humans.

"Execute all the apes!" they could hear Restac order.

The Doctor spun around, seeing Mac pulling a bottle out of her bag, "This is a deadly weapon!" he shouted at the Silurians, trying to buy her time, "Stay back."

One of the soldiers stepped forward, trying to lash out at them, when Mac threw the contents of the bottle at the ground as the soldier stepped forward, making the soldier slip and fall, "Vegetable oil," Mac grabbed his hand and pulled him into a run, "Now go!"

"Take everyone to the lab!" the Doctor shouted ahead, spotting the humans running with Eldane in the lead. He ducked down as a blast went past him.

"I've got it covered," Mac told him, pulling out a handful of small white pouches from her bag and a box of matches. She quickly lit on and stuck it into the pouch before throwing it behind her, doing the same to the other three pouches as they went.

"What is that?" the Doctor asked her as he saw the first one in the distance explode, expelling a sort of tan powder into the air, blocking the Silurians sight of them.

"Gun powder and foundation," she smiled, "Makes an excellent smoke screen."

He laughed, taking her hand, "You are BRILLIANT!" he cheered as they reached the lab and ran in, shutting the doors behind them and using the sonic to lock them.

"I know," she smiled.

He turned and grabbed her head, kissing her forehead in delight before he spun around, "Right, I can focus now."

"Elliot," Mac turned to the small boy, "Can you and your dad watch for any soldiers on that screen sweetie?" Elliot nodded and ran to the screen with Mo, watching the monitor of the halls.

"Amy," the Doctor tossed her Ambrose's watch, "Keep reminding us how much time we haven't got."

"Ok," Amy looked at the watch, "12 minutes till drill impact."

"Now, Tony, a lovely little birdie told me that you were trying to hide something," he walked over to Tony, giving him a pointed look as he pulled out the sonic and Tony tugged his shirt away, pulling the ice packs to the side to reveal his chest.

"Tony!" Nasreen gasped, gingerly touching a vein, "What happened?!"

The Doctor sighed and looked at Mac, "You were right, Alaya's sting is mutating."

"I didn't have enough time or resources to do both an anti-venom and preparing all this," she tugged on her bag.

"Right then," he started tossing the sonic between his hands, "How can we stop it?" he frowned before cheering, "Decontamination program! Yes! Might work, don't know. Eldane," he spun around to the Silurian, "Can you run the program on Tony?"

"Er…um…you," Mo pointed at Mac.

"That's Agent Mackenzie dad," Elliot whispered to him loudly as Eldane moved to help Tony to the Decontamination bed.

"Right um, sorry," Mo looked at her and pointed at the screen, "Shedload of those creatures coming our way! We're surrounded in here!"

"So, question is," the Doctor spun around to lean on a control, looking at Mac, "How we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time? Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?"

Mac bit her bottom lip, trying to think, before she pulled out a pen from her pocket and held it up.

The Doctor blinked at it, going slightly cross-eyed to look, "Bit more?" he requested.

She unscrewed the end and pulled the center out, holding up the hollowed container with the cap on it, "Channel an energy pulse up through the tunnels," she ran her finger up along it, "To the drill room," before she blew on the one end, forcing the cap to come flying off, "Ought to stop it."

"Hold on!" Nasreen cried, "Are you talking about blowing up my life's work?!"

"Yes," the Doctor winced, "Sorry. No nice way of putting that."

"Right, well," Nasreen took a breath, thinking about it a moment, "You're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in..."

"11 minutes, 40 seconds," Amy called.

"Yes!" the Doctor cheered, "Squeaky bum time!"

Mac rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm at how much worse it was getting and how much more he loved it, "The explosion would collapse the tunnels after it hits," she reminded him, putting her pen away, "The caving in will cause debris from the ceilings of the tunnels, we need to be in the TARDIS and on the surface before that happens or we'll be buried alive."

"Yes, there IS that," the Doctor agreed.

"Can we even get past Restac's troops?" Rory asked.

Mac bit her lip again, opening her bag, "I've only got a handful of smoke bombs and one more tear gas. That won't be enough for us to escape all her soldiers."

"I may be able to help with that," Eldane spoke up, "Toxic Fumigation, an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."

"You could end up killing your own people," Amy frowned.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."

"Eldane," the Doctor looked at him seriously, "Are you sure about this?"

"My priority is my race's survival. The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"No."

"10 minutes, Doctor," Amy called.

"Maybe it just needs more time?" Mac suggested, "So many events happen because of ignorance. Like this. All of it happened because of the suddenness of it and because the humans didn't know about the settlement and the Silurians didn't know the drill wasn't a weapon of attack…" she looked at the Doctor, "Maybe…this ONE time…we shouldn't come up with a clever lie to cover it up. The humans KNOW that aliens exist now, maybe it's time they know the Silurians are still here."

The Doctor nodded, "Ok," he smiled at her, "So," he clapped, "Here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown... I'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time. 1,000 years, to sort the planet out," he added to Elliot and Ambrose, their family, "To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared."

"Yeah," Elliot nodded, "I get you."

"You are a brilliant boy Elliot," Mac smiled at him, making him beam. She could tell that he would be the one that would lead the revolution.

"Nine minutes, seven seconds," Amy added.

The Doctor moved over to the controls, eyeing them, "Yes, fluid controls, my favorite! Kenzie?" he nodded her over and she quickly began to help him set the system.

"I've timed the energy pulse," she reported, "It's all set."

"Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out," he muttered, flashing the sonic at the controls, "Quickly…"

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane added.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface," Rory frowned.

"Ah-ha, super-squeaky bum time!" the Doctor cheered, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now..."

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," Eldane reminded them, making them all look over at Tony, strapped to the table in the decontamination chamber.

"Well, go," he urged them, "All of you! Go!"

Mac watched as Ambrose and Elliot ran over to Tony, not wanting to leave him and turned to the Doctor, trying to give the small family privacy to say their goodbyes. Tony wouldn't be able to leave before the process was finished, but they couldn't stay any longer or risk being poisoned by the fumes.

"Eight minutes, 10 seconds," Amy whispered to the Time Lords.

"Give them a mo," the Doctor murmured back, turning to lead the two other humans off, "Listen, we have to get back to the TARDIS first and quickly. That'll be our ride to the surface."

"Where is it?" Mac asked him.

"Er…" he scratched the side of his face.

Mac closed her eyes, "You don't know where you parked the TARDIS, do you?"

"Not exactly," he stepped over to the computers, looking at the video screens, flicking through them to try and find the TARDIS and get his bearings, "But it's not my fault!"

"How is it not your fault?" Mac shook her head at that, "You should know where something as important as the TARDIS is!"

"Well I'm sorry if knowing where something twice as important as the TARDIS is overshadowed that."

"What could possibly be more important to you than the TARDIS?"

The Doctor just looked at her.

Mac waited a moment longer, "Doctor?" she shook her head, not understanding why he wasn't answering.

The Doctor opened his mouth to tell her just what was more important to him then the TARDIS, when the speakers went off, "Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated…"

Amy turned to the screens, seeing the soldiers departing, "They're going! We're clear!"

The Doctor swallowed and sighed, turning around, "Ok, everyone!" he called, "Follow this tunnel down and turn left, look for a blue box. Get ready to run," he waited a moment longer before flashing the sonic at the door, sliding it open, before he looked at Eldane, "I'm sorry."

Eldane nodded, "I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans..."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Doctor!" Amy cut in, "We've got less than six minutes."

"Then we need to go," she turned and pushed Amy and Rory out, urging Elliot and his parents on, "Come on, go!" she ran after them, calling directions on where to go…when she realized the Doctor hadn't followed, "Oh…Doctor!" she nearly groaned before turning to go grab him again. She could barely hear Nasreen thanking the Doctor as she reached the lab again and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room.

"Come and look for us!" Nasreen called to them as the doors closed.

They caught up to the humans in a large cavernous room, the speakers still calling the warning about the fumigation…so Mac was ready to pull her hair out when she saw the humans just standing there, gaping at the room, "Go!" she shoved them.

"Come on!" the Doctor agreed, taking the lead and bringing them to the tunnel the TARDIS was parked in, Mac rushing to the doors to unlock it with her key, it being more readily available, "No questions, just get in!"

"And whatever you do, don't say 'it's bigger on the inside!'" Mac added.

"Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again," the Doctor told the small family, "Get yourself fixed up. Come on!"

"Five minutes and counting," Amy started to say before cutting off suddenly, making the Time Lords look back to see her staring in horror at the other end of the cavern…where a large crack, larger than the one on the Byzantium, was set in the wall.

"It's getting bigger," Mac breathed, frowning as she realized that.

"Oh, no, no, no, not here," the Doctor shook his head, "Now now!"

"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy whispered, Rory moving to her side, putting his arm around her.

"Some sort of space-time cataclysm," the Doctor murmured, slowly stepping closer.

Mac looked over to see that Rory looked a little confused, "An explosion," she simplified, "Something, somewhere in the universe that's ripping cracks in it."

"But what?" the Doctor breathed, getting closer and closer, staring at it, fascinated.

Amy shook her head, focusing back on the watch once more, "Four minutes 50..."

"Ok," Mac shook herself out of her thoughts too, "Ok, we have to go!" she moved to take the Doctor's arm.

He turned to her, "The Angels laughed, Kenzie," he turned his hand up to grip her arm in return, "They _laughed_, when we didn't know. Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except us!"

"And what do you expect to accomplish?" she shook her head, "You've already scanned it with the sonic, multiple times."

"Well, where there's an explosion," he whipped out a red handkerchief, "There's shrapnel," he winked.

"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory shouted, seeing what he was about to do.

"Why not?" he grinned, crouching down and sticking his arm in there, rooting around, grunting in pain as he tried to grab something.

"Doctor?" Mac frowned.

"I've got something!" he cried, pulling himself backwards till he fell to the ground, twisting to land on his stomach, the object wrapped in the handkerchief and held out before him, sizzling and smoking with the time energy.

"What is it?" Amy eyed it.

"I don't know."

Mac rushed over to him, taking the object and putting it in her pocket before grabbing his hand and turning it this way and that, checking to make sure he was ok. She let out a breath, "You daft old man," she slapped his shoulder, helping him up.

He smiled at that, he loved it when she hit his shoulder, she only did that when she was worrying about him.

"Doctor!" Rory suddenly shouted, pointing at the pathway they'd come from, where Restac was on the ground, crawling towards them.

"She was there," Amy realized, "When the gas started...she must've been poisoned."

"You!" Restac snarled.

The Doctor looked at Mac who turned, trying to get Amy and Rory back, "Get in the TARDIS," she urged them on, "Go, quickly!"

"You did this!" Restac screamed.

Rory turned, seeing Restac raising one of her guns at the Doctor and pushed past Mac, "Doctor!" he shouted, shoving the man away as Restac fired, falling to the ground in pain as Restac died.

"Rory!" Amy screamed, rushing to his side.

"Rory," Mac moved on his other side, "Rory look at us, look at us."

"Can you hear me?" the Doctor soniced him.

"I don't understand," Rory breathed.

"Shh shh," Amy soothed, stroking his hair, "Don't talk," she looked up at the Time Lords, "Is he ok? We have to get him into the TARDIS!"

"We were on the hill. I can't die here."

"Don't say that," Amy sniffled.

Rory rolled his head to the side and looked at her, "You're so beautiful..." he breathed, his eyes starting to flutter, "I'm sorry…" before they fell closed.

"Doctor," Amy gasped, turning to him, tears falling from her eyes as she begged him, "Help him."

"Doctor," Mac reached out and touched his arm, "Move away…now."

The Doctor looked up, following her gaze, to see that the crack had begun to seep out time energy, already touching Rory's feet and crawling higher and higher up his legs.

"Amy," he quickly stood, grabbing her arms to try and pull her back, "Move away from the light, if it touches you you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now."

"No!" Amy wrenched herself from his grasp, "I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"

"Amy I'm sorry but the energy's already got him," Mac grabbed her arm, tugging her back, "We have to go!"

"I am not leaving him!" Amy struggled more, but Mac managed to keep her grip.

"Doctor!" she called, and he rushed to grab Amy's other arm.

"I'm sorry, we have to!" the Doctor told her as the two dragged Amy back, away from the energy, towards the TARDIS.

"No!" Amy screamed, twisting and turning to escape them and their apologies as they forced her on, "Get off me!" they didn't let go till they were inside the TARDIS, shoving Amy further in to lock the doors behind her but she ran for them any way, tugging and pushing on them but the Doctor had sonic locked them to keep her inside, "Let me out, please let me out...I need to get Rory."

The Time Lord ran for the console, making quick work of dematerialization. Amy turned and stumbled after them, seeing Rory on the monitor, seeing the light nearly to his chest, "That light, if his body's absorbed I'll forget him. He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen!" she spun to the Doctor but he pulled a lever, ignoring her, "What are you doing? Doctor! No!" she tried to stop him, tried to push him away, but Mac stepped into his place and finished, the TARDIS starting to shake as it disappeared, "No! No! We can't just leave him there!"

"Keep him in your mind," the Doctor told her, "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever."

"On the _Byzantium_," Amy gasped, feeling like she couldn't breathe, "I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveler now you said."

"Amy they were men from another time and planet and history," Mac told her, "Not your own past."

"Tell me it's going to be ok," she begged them, "You have to make it ok!"

The Doctor swallowed and Mac helped lead Amy back to the jump seat, "It's going to be hard," he warned, "But you can do it, Amy," he knelt before her Mac crouched at her side, her arm around Amy's shoulders as he took her hands, "Tell us about Rory. Fantastic Rory, funny Rory, gorgeous Rory. Amy, listen to me. Do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this."

"I can't," Amy sobbed.

"You can," Mac squeezed her shoulders "You CAN do this," she urged, "This has to be you Amy, you know Rory better than us."

"Come on," the Doctor whispered, "We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please…come on, Amy, come on. Amy, please."

"Just keep focused," Mac told her calmly.

"Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory. Keep remembering, Rory is only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind…"

Unfortunately, in the chaos and heartsbreak of helping Amy…neither Time Lord thought to keep an eye on the controls…and the TARDIS thumped terribly as she landed herself, knocking them all to the ground. Mac let out a breath as the engagement ring box fell right by her nose, the ring still in it, protected by the TARDIS.

"What were you saying?" Amy asked brightly as she pushed herself to her feet, smiling down at them, not even noticing the dried tears on her face as the Time Lords stared at her.

"I have seen some things today," Mo called as he and his family headed down the steps, "But this is beyond mad!"

"Five seconds till it all goes up!" Amy gasped, glancing at Ambrose's watch, before she turned and ran for the doors, the Northovers following her out and onto the hill. The Time Lords stepped out, far more sedately, just in time to see the drill go up in flames.

~8~

Mac had just finished collecting all her bells and whistles and mirrors from the church, having passed Amy, Elliot, and Mo wandering about and talking, trying to clear some of the debris. She stepped over to the entrance to the church, seeing the Doctor and Ambrose talking quietly.

"You could've let those things shoot me," Ambrose remarked as she glanced at them, the Doctor smiling as Mac stepped up, draping his arm around her shoulders, "You saved me."

"An eye for an eye?" the Doctor smiled sadly, "It's never the way."

"You wanted to protect your son, Ambrose, and that's very noble," Mac added, "But you need to be aware that HOW you do it will impact him. You could have set a terrible example for your son, showing him that genocide and murder are alright."

"Luckily," the Doctor continued when Ambrose looked down, "He's seen the wrongness in it. And HE can be the best of humanity...in the way you couldn't be."

"Come on," Mac stepped away from the Doctor's arm, though she reached up to take his raised hand in her own, leading him up towards the TARDIS, "We still have one more thing to clean up…"

They'd just reached the old box when Amy came jogging up to them, seeing them (what she assumed to be) leaving, "We heading out now?" she asked, before glancing back at the drill site, smiling when she saw something, "Oh! Hey! Look! There I am again! Hello, me!" she waved at her future self, standing there all alone, before slowly stopping, lowering her arm and frowning into the distance.

"Something the matter Amy?" Mac glanced at her.

"I thought I saw someone else there for a second. I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?" she turned to them.

"You go in," the Doctor waved her off, "Just fix this lock," he turned to fiddle with the door and his own key, "Keeps jamming," unlocking it and opening the doors for her.

"You Time Lords and your TARDIS locks," she rolled her eyes, stepping in and leaving them alone.

The Doctor glanced at Mac who pulled the red-wrapped item out of her pocket, unfolding it and holding it up to the Doctor. He frowned, taking the small white chip-like object, seeing squiggles of words that were far too familiar…before he held it up to the TARDIS information panel to see it was the exact corner piece of the sign.

"Well," Mac swallowed at that, "Should have been obvious, that."

The Doctor nodded slowly, reaching out to take her hand as they stared at the sigh piece, what else was there that was powerful enough that it could rip cracks into the universe if it exploded?

The question was…why?

A/N: Not much wooing in this chapter, I know :( Poor Doctor losing his 'wingman' like that :( I tried to fit some wooing in there, but other moments I had to take out as it felt a little too forced with all the running around and '10 minutes before fumigation' sort of things :/ But I hope you liked all of Mac's little creations here ;) Little shout outs to her namesake MacGyver there ;) I really wanted her to save Alaya, but I felt like Restac would take the initial attack on her sister to heart and focus on that instead of the fact Alaya was alive and returned to her :(

And I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, this time it wasn't the internet or site but me :( I was at a race track most of the day on Saturday and seems I've caught a chill and it turned into a cold. I think I slept nearly the entire day yesterday, barely got up even to eat :( I hate colds, being sick stinks :( So I wasn't able to edit the chapter in time, but I worked on it this morning and got it up :) I hope you enjoyed it ;)

Some notes on reviews...

It's TL7, not a mistake nope. I've mentioned in a few notes and on my tumblr that I am numbering my future TLs based on series introduced. TL7 is the Time Lady that focuses on Series 7, TL5 in Series 5 and so on :) The only TL that's a bit off in that is TL8 (since Series 8 isn't out yet) and that TL is for the 10-specials. I base the number sequence on series introduced, not on order introduced or when I created them. It's more ironic that Mac is TL4 and ended up both being introduced in Series 4 and being the 4th Time Lady series :) I don't think Mac would be annoyed very much :) It's essentially the TARDIS, I think Idris would be more annoyed with Mac for how she treated the Doctor at first ;) I considered introducing the wife in the Wife episode but I felt like it would be a bit cliché :/

Lol, if I ever threw my dad's car in a river he'd disown me and kick me out of the house and then probably call the cops about me 'trespassing' when I tried to get back in to at least get a change of clothes :( And I'm actually being entirely serious, he probably would do that. He can be really weird at times. Like...right before I was supposed to go to college, we were at IHOP for dinner, and he was saying that we had to get me an ironing board and an iron...and I told him that we really didn't, because I don't iron my clothes. I like folding them and hanging them up right when they finish in the dryer so that they're not wrinkled in the first place. I don't ever really iron and I said that it would just end up being a waste to buy something I won't ever use. And this is coming from the fact that they _just_ surprised me with my car as a gift for years and years of straight As, extracurriculars, and getting a scholarship. My dad then got very angry that I didn't want an ironing board, said I was being 'an ungrateful bitch,' and that if I didn't appreciate everything they'd done for me for college then I could forget about _ever_ having his help/support in _anything_ I wanted to do for the rest of my life...then gave me the silent treatment for a week while I had a small breakdown over it all. All that over an _ironing board_ -sigh- I'm fairly certain, by how my parents raised me, that they've given me a complex of having to do as they say or feeling like a failure (and given me a complex about not wanting to disappoint them in the process) :(

The Big Bang will actually be on Friday, Thursday will be The Pandorica Opens, but definitely expect a birthday shout out on Thursdsay no matter which chapter is up ;)

Nope, they won't adopt, mostly because there aren't any Time Lord children to adopt and I can't see them taking on a human or other alien only for it to grow up, grow old, and die before them :( Parents should never have to bury their children :'( But I'm glad you're liking it so far :) I love Victoria and Proffy too :)


	11. Vincent and the Time Lords

Vincent and the Time Lords

Mac smiled as she wandered around the Musee D'Orsay with the Doctor and Amy, observing the Van Gogh exhibit. The man was, apparently, Amy's favorite artiest and the Doctor had wanted to try and cheer the ginger human up from the loss of Rory. They knew that Amy didn't remember the boy but they still felt so terrible that they couldn't save him from the time energy, so, in a way, it was also an attempt to assuage their own guilt about it all. Though Mac had noticed that the Doctor had seemed to be taking them to what appeared to be almost slightly romantic places. They'd been to Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, and so many other places that she was starting to get just the tiniest bit suspicious that maybe it was a date? But why would the Doctor suddenly decide to take Amy on a date now when he had been so adamant that he was not interested in her in that way?

It couldn't have been because Rory was gone. That wouldn't be what did it. The Doctor had turned Amy down even when Rory hadn't been there to begin with so there was no reason for him to suddenly want to court Amy now. And she didn't think that the Doctor would be the sort to try and woo a woman whose fiancé had just died. He hadn't shown any interest in Amy before in that manner so why would he now?

And why was she suddenly so worried that he might like Amy? It…wouldn't matter, it really wouldn't, if he chose to court Amy or not. Despite numerous enemies claiming otherwise, she and the Doctor were not Chosens. Ok, unofficially they might be, they HAD told each other that they loved the other, but that had been ages ago on her part and when HE had said it to her she wasn't exactly in a reciprocating sort of mood.

Which brought up the question…what DID she feel for the Doctor? And…if she did feel something for him, would that explain why she was suddenly obsessing about whether this was a date for the Doctor and Amy? She had experienced jealousy before, yes, everyone had. She just…she wasn't sure if what she was feeling was true jealousy. She didn't know what the Doctor's intentions were so she couldn't be sure there was even anything to be jealous of in the first place. She didn't know if she was feeling more jealous or even…neglected? If that was the right word. She didn't even know if what she felt was jealousy over the fact that Amy was still there when Rory wasn't. She'd become good friends with Rory during his short stay aboard the TARDIS and she felt like, to lose him, was almost like losing a companion even though she'd never had one before.

But most of all…she just…didn't know how to feel about the Doctor because…she was worried. If she felt too much for him and he didn't reciprocate like she'd thought he hadn't last time…well…there was no reason for him to 'want a better life for her' when there was nothing else out there. There was no husband, no Contract, no planet or people to worry about. If he didn't like her like that again…it would be because he just didn't. And she was almost certain that…he didn't love her.

Oh he claimed he did, he said it at times, but she knew some of those instances were a more joking sort, like when she did something creative and he would shout 'I love you!' because she'd gotten them out of a tricky situation. Other times he'd say it and she almost felt like it could be said in the context of one friend to another, that he cared for her but that was it. It was just…hard. Because…she almost felt like she might be starting to feel something but every time it came up, she crushed it back down. She couldn't risk starting to like the Doctor again in that manner and then have it blow up at her again, she wouldn't be able to handle that. Her hearts were more fragile than she let on and it was the one reason why she had such trouble trusting people who broke them or broke her trust. If they did it once, they certainly could do it again. She didn't like being hurt. And the Doctor had hurt her badly, even if his intentions were good and noble and he'd only had HER in mind in doing them, but…it still HURT.

He'd gained back her trust, slowly but surely, but she was trying to keep her hearts from opening up to him again. Because there was just…NO way that he could love her.

She'd been SO terrible to him before, in her last body, she'd been a right Dalek to him and he HATED the Daleks. It stood to reason that he couldn't possibly still love her after doing that to him. He said he did, but…she just couldn't make herself believe it was true. All she heard when he said that was her own words biting back at him, all she saw was the hurt look in his eyes, how his hearts broke with every sharp word she sent at him, with each little dig that dampened his spirit. After all she'd done to him? How could a man like him forgive or even love a woman like her? He just…couldn't. The Doctor had the biggest hearts in the Universe but…she knew she had hurt him more than anyone in the Universe ever could with her words. And she knew from experience, once hurt, you guarded yourself against it in the future.

He may say he loved her, but…she just couldn't make herself believe it was true. And if it wasn't true, she couldn't allow herself to feel anything more than just companionship and friendship for him.

Besides, she hadn't noticed any signs that said contrary to how she thought, just the Doctor being his friendly and energetic, slightly absentminded, self.

"Thanks for bringing me," Amy looked at them, pulling Mac's attention away from the _Starry Night_ painting.

"You're welcome," the Doctor nodded.

"You're being so nice to me," Amy eyed him suspiciously, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I'm always nice to you," he defended.

"Not like this. This is the sort of nice you only show Mac. The places you're taking me, Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this? If I didn't know any better, Doctor, I'd say you were trying to date…"

"I'm NOT taking you on dates!" he cut in quickly, looking at Mac as she laughed and shook her head, wandering off to look at the paintings.

"I know," Amy winked at him, "I was going to say that you were trying to date Mac but got stuck babysitting me too. You know you CAN just leave me in the TARDIS Doctor, or drop me off at a spa for the day and spend time with her alone."

"Yes, I know that. Course I know that. Why wouldn't I know that."

Amy blinked at him, "Are you…are you nervous to be alone with her?" she started to chuckle at that, it was so unlike the Doctor to be nervous of anything.

"No!" he said quickly, "Ok…maybe yes?"

Amy shook her head at that, "Why? You two were alone for a few years before you took me along. What's different?"

"I'M different," he admitted, "Amy…the last me that was with her," he looked at Mac, "He was…more controlled, less…"

"Obviously complimenting her, overly flirty with her, touchy feely with her, blatantly…"

"Yes, yes," he cut in, "All that. He was less…me."

"And that's a good thing?" Amy frowned.

The Doctor sighed and rubbed the side of his face, "The other me knew when to stop," he told her, "He knew when to give up and focus back on a situation but all I can focus on is her."

"That's not a bad thing Doctor," Amy told him, "That's actually really good, don't stop. Don't give up. If she likes you then…"

"I don't know if she does," the Doctor sighed, "Rory was..."

"Who?" Amy asked, giving him an odd look.

"Um…" his eyes widened, not having meant to let that slip, "An…old friend of mine. I was going to invite him along, he um…offered to be my wing mate."

"You mean wingman?" Amy smiled and he pointed at her, "You DO know it can be wing-woman too right?"

He blinked, "It can be?"

Amy laughed, "Doctor, ever heard of 'girl talk?'"

"Yes," he nodded…before shaking his head, "No is that some sort of new language? I really do have to update the TARDIS translation controls and…"

"No, no," Amy shook her head, "It's just…what girls talk about privately to other girls when men aren't around. Mostly boys."

"Right yes, boys…" he nodded, before shaking his head again, "What about boys?"

"You really are an alien," Amy muttered, "Look, Doctor, the point is…I can talk to Mac for you, if you want, see what she thinks of you."

"But that's not what a wingman does," he frowned, "Ror…my friend said that wing men 'talk blokes up' to women."

"Yeah," she nodded her head, "But that's a wingMAN. Wing-women talk to girls about what they already think of the blokes to get an idea of how they feel," it really wasn't, wing-women could talk a bloke up just as well as a wingman, but for the sake of not confusing the Doctor she stuck with just the 'girl talk' part of it.

"Oh," the Doctor nodded, "Then yes, I would very much appreciate if you would be my wing-woman Pond."

"Consider it done, Doctor," Amy gave him a mock salute for it.

"Doctor…" Mac's voice called over to them, and the Doctor was at her side before Amy could even blink, hearing a tense note in it.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, starting to look around as though there were a danger in that very room.

"Amy have you got that guidebook?" Mac turned to her.

"Yeah," Amy nodded, joining them, "Why?"

Mac just took it as Amy handed it over and held it up to the painting of the _Church at Auvers_, moving the book so that it was right beside the bottom right window.

"Ooh I love this one," the Doctor smiled, "You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you. Carving the colors into shapes…" he stopped talking as Mac made the 'stop talking' motion and then pointed at the actual painting's window…where a small black creature that was NOT in the guidebook was lurking.

"Is it a face?" Amy squinted at it, taking her book back to compare.

"Looks like it," Mac nodded.

**"**And not a nice face at all," the Doctor agreed, "I know evil when I see it and I see it in that window."

"Does the book say when it was painted?" Mac turned to Amy, "Exactly when?"

But Amy shook her head, "Just says 1890."

Mac looked around and spotted a lecturer, rushing over as he was speaking, "Hello, sorry to interrupt," she smiled, pulling out her ID, "Agent Mackenzie, of UNIT, doing a routine inspection of art capsules," she smiled reassuringly, "Some aliens have been known to hide in art pieces and escape," she offered.

It wasn't often, but it COULD happen, there were records of it.

"Now, Mr…" she eyed him.

"Dr. Black," he introduced.

"Pleasure," she shook his hand, "That picture of the church, when was it painted?"

Dr. Black blinked, "What does that have to do with aliens?"

"Answer the question sir. As exactly as possible."

"Oh, um…I believe it was somewhere between the 1st and 3rd of June."

"In 1890?"

"1890, yes. Less than a year before he killed himself."

"Thank you," Mac smiled at him, turning to go, only to see the Doctor beside her.

"Nice bowtie," he winked at the man, before turning to grin at Mac, "Bowties are cool, though…" he ran a finger along her headband, "Not quite as cool as the headband."

"Thank you sir," Dr. Black chuckled, "Yours is very..."

"Oh, thank you," he straightened his bowtie, "Keep telling them stuff…"

Mac just rolled her eyes and took his hand, pulling him out of the exhibit as she pushed Amy onwards, "We have to go."

"What about the other pictures?" Amy frowned, glancing back, trying to see if they were wrong too.

"Art can wait," the Doctor agreed, "This is life and need to talk to Vincent Van Gogh."

~8~

Amy, Mac, and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to find that it had landed in an alley at night. According to the environment scan it was June the first, 1890, for once exactly where they needed to be when they had to be there. The Doctor had been surprisingly accurate though the women knew that it was because he'd actually paid attention to what he was doing this time and done it by the book. It had surprised Amy to find that the man could actually pilot the box efficiently, she'd thought his 'five minutes' when she'd taken him to see her wedding dress had been a flub. But there they were, right time and right place.

"Right," the Doctor nodded as he led them down the alley, "So here's the plan. We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend."

"That's more like a 'thing' Doctor," Mac smiled at him.

"An easy peasy thing though," Amy remarked.

"Well, no," the Doctor sighed, "I suspect nothing will be easy with Mr. Van Gogh. Now, he'll probably be in the local café, sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside…" he slowed as they reached the end of the alley to look around, trying to get his bearings.

Amy and Mac, however, looked across the small street to see what appeared to be a scene out of Van Gogh's paintings, the _Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night_ which Amy double checked in the guidebook, smiling to see, "Like this?" she held it up to the Doctor.

"That's the one," the Doctor nodded.

"So THAT then," Mac gestured across the street as Amy lowered the book to reveal the café.

"Yeah, exactly like that," he smile, grabbing Mac's hand and pulling her across the road to the café, pulling out a chair for her at one of the tables on the outside terrace. Mac smiled in return and sat down, the Doctor immediately moving beside her as Amy shook her head at him.

He was SO obvious in his affections. She really had noticed it earlier, before they'd dealt with the Silurians, but she'd been hoping that perhaps it was just an affection that he bestowed upon all people. It had been quickly put down as he seemed to only be that way with Mac. She felt a bit foolish to think that she and the Doctor could really be anything but friends, good friends. Still, Mac didn't seem to realize what the Doctor was doing, she really would have to speak to that girl soon and see what was going on, if she really wasn't noticing or if she was but was trying to put the Doctor down lightly.

"Good evening," the Doctor greeted the owner as he stood outside, speaking to one of the waitresses cleaning the tables, "Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?"

"_Don't_ mention that man to me," the owner glared before stalking back inside.

Mac frowned at that and turned to a nearby waitress, "Excuse me, ma'am, do YOU know Van Gogh?"

"Unfortunately," she muttered.

Amy gaped at that, "Unfortunately?!"

"He's drunk, he's mad and he never pays his bills!"

"Good painter, though, eh?" the Doctor smiled…only getting a laugh in return from practically everyone around them.

"Come on!" a voice called from within, a distinct accent telling the Time Lords the man speaking was from Holland, and they could think of one particular man that could be, "Come on! One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal!"

The owner stormed out, holding a canvas in hand as a man with bright ginger hair followed him, Van Gogh himself, which made Mac smile to see, the Doctor and Amy more obvious in their excitement, "It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good. I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death!" he waved the canvas in his hand around, "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out."

"I'll pay if you like," the Doctor offered.

Mac scoffed, "With what money?"

"With your stunning good looks," he winked at her.

"That's not actually a currency on any planet, Doctor."

"What?" the owner shook his head, confused.

"If you like," he turned back to the owner, "I'll pay for the drink. Or I'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink."

"Exactly who are you?" Vincent frowned at the two of them, glancing over at Amy and back.

"Tourists," Mac offered.

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you," he ignored the blatant laughs resounding behind him at that, "Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town, so if you want to enjoy your time here, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend's cute, but you should keep your big nose out of other people's business."

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor cut in as Vincent moved to open his mouth again, "Um…which friend were you referring to? Amy," he nodded at the ginger human, "Or Kenz…Mackenzie," he corrected, nodding at Mac, not wanting Vincent to start calling her 'Kenzie,' that was HIS thing.

"Amy," Vincent said, seeing the Doctor relax instantly at that.

"Oh, good, good, carry on then."

Mac blinked and looked over at him, "Are you saying I'm not cute?"

"I'm saying your far more than cute," he smiled at her, "You're stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, ethereal, lovel…"

"Flattery will NOT get me to let you pilot the return trip Doctor," she warned him.

He'd just opened his mouth to tell her he didn't really care about the return trip, that it had completely slipped his mind and that he was being 100% honest…when Vincent began to talk again, cutting him off, "Come on, just one more drink. I'll pay tomorrow."

"No," the owner shook his head.

"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?"

"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no!"

"Or…"

"Oh, look, just shut up the pair of you!" Amy huffed, stepping up to them, "I would like a bottle of wine, please," she said to the owner, "Which I will then share with whomever," and gave Vincent a pointed look, "I choose."

"That could be good," Vincent nodded.

As did the owner, "That's good by me."

Amy beamed, "Good," and turned to follow the owner inside for the drinks as the man shoved the canvas back into Vincent's chest on the way.

Vincent sighed and looked down at his work, his _Self Portrait with Straw Hat_ before he turned to follow Amy in, "Why do I think this is going to lead to trouble?" Mac looked at him, "Amy around Vincent?"

The Doctor shrugged, "As long as it's not Vincent around you, I consider it a good day," he winked, standing and offering her his hand to help her up, leading her into the café after the two other gingers, not letting go of her hand.

Maybe he could sneak another date out this one too. Dinner, wine, a restaurant…this would count as one in his book.

~8~

Mac was shaking her head at the Doctor as they sat at a table with Amy and Vincent, her beside the Doctor on one side with Amy and Vincent on the other. There were two glasses of wine out, before the humans. She had refused wine, not really caring much for alcohol, and the Doctor…well…he'd attempted drinking a mouthful of it…before promptly spitting it back into the glass and proceeding to try and wipe his tongue off. So she'd taken the glass away. He was now currently sitting there in a sulk, pouting because he was the lone brunette at a table of gingers and it 'wasn't fair!' as he'd huffed.

She honestly didn't know what his obsession with gingers and being ginger was.

"That accent of yours," Vincent began, looking at Amy, "You from Holland like me?"

"No," Amy answered at the same time the Doctor said, "Yes," and Mac went with, "Scotland."

They all looked at each other a moment before laughing, the Doctor shaking his head as he turned to Vincent, "Sorry, rude of us, hello, I'm the Doctor…"

"I knew it!" Vincent shouted, cutting him off from saying anything else.

**"**Sorry?" the Doctor blinked.

**"**My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help."

"You have nothing to worry about there," Mac said lightly, "He's hardly that sort of doctor."

The Doctor looked around for something to change the topic and spotted the _La Meridienne_ portrait just beside Vincent, "That's incredible," he pointed at it, "Don't you think, Amy?"

Amy smiled as she spotted it, "Absolutely. One of my favorites."

"One of my favorite whats?" Vincent frowned at that, "You've never seen my work before."

"Ah, yes…" Amy blinked, "One of my favorite paintings that I've ever seen. Generally."

"Then you can't have seen many paintings, then. I know it's terrible," he looked down at it sadly, "It's the best I could do," before turning away from it, looking at Amy and smiling, "Your hair is orange."

"Yes," she leaned in, "So's yours. And so's Mac's."

"Don't," the Doctor pointed a warning finger at her, "Don't bring Kenzie into your flirting ring."

"Flirting ring?" Mac chuckled at that.

He shrugged, "Your hair's amazing enough, don't want you getting an inflated ego too," he reached out to tug on her headband, "Otherwise we'll need a bigger headband for you."

"Oi!" she playfully slapped his hand away, "If I end up with a big head because someone thinks my hair is nice, then that doesn't say much about me does it?"

"Your hair deserves to be complimented though," he argued, "YOU do. Words just…fail me when it comes to you."

"You're just saying that cos you're jealous you're not ginger," she nudged him, "And we have more to think on than ginger hair, don't we?" she gave him a pointed look.

He sighed, wanting nothing more than to try and think of words to describe what he thought of her hair alone…and then work up more words to describe the rest of her, from her hair to her toes, but she was right, they had that creature to think on, "So, Vincent," he turned to the painter as the man openly stared at Amy, "Painted any churches recently? Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"

"Very subtle," Mac muttered, shaking her head at that.

"Well…" Vincent began slowly, "There _is _one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right…"

"That is very good news," the Doctor beamed.

And, of course, because something very good had happened…something very bad was not far behind, as a woman ran into the small café, screaming, "She's been murdered! Help me!"

"And that is very bad news," Mac nodded, grabbing the Doctor's hand and pulling him off after the scream, Amy and Vincent running after them into the alley where they could see a small crowd had gathered around the body of a young woman lying on the cobblestone, appearing as though she'd been attacked by a vicious animal as many of the people were whispering to each other.

"Please, let me look," the Doctor pushed his way through, "I'm a doctor," he moved to kneel by the body, Vincent beside him just as a woman began to shove others away on her quest to get closer.

"Away, all of you vultures!" the woman shouted, "This is my daughter," she dropped to her knees beside the girl, touching her face, tears in her eyes, "Giselle. What monster could have done this?" she looked up at the Doctor hovering over the girl and hissed at him, swinging at him, "Get away from her!"

"Ok," the Doctor quickly moved back, pulling Vincent with him, "Ok…"

"Get that madman out of here!" she grabbed a stone and threw it at Vincent, the crowd taking up her cries and actions, all of them starting to throw stones at the four of them. Mac quickly reached out to a rubbish bin and grabbed the lid of one, using it as a shield to avoid the rocks, helping protect them as they ran out of the alley, "You bring this on us. Your madness! You! He's to blame!"

"Kenzie!" the Doctor rushed to her as soon as they all made it out to the streets, taking her face in his hands, "You ok? Did they hit you?"

Mac laughed a little, "Taking a leaf out of my book, Doctor?" she asked, she was the fretter of the two of them.

"Only when it's you," he smiled, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs a moment before letting go of her.

"Vincent?" she glanced past him, "Amy, are you both alright?"

"I'm fine," Amy waved her off.

"I'm used to it," Vincent shrugged.

"Has anything like this murder happened here before?" the Doctor asked him.

"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time."

"As I thought, as I thought," he looked at Mac, both of them thinking the same thing, that it was the beast at work.

"We should make sure you get home alright Vincent," Mac told him, "You've got a cut on your head…"

Vincent nodded and glanced at Amy, frowning, "Where are _you_ staying tonight?"

And so the Doctor beamed at that, draping an arm around Vincent's shoulders, "Oh, you're very kind," he patted the man on the chest before spinning around to take Mac's hand, leading her off down the alley as she shook her head at him.

~8~

The Doctor grinned widely as he walked with Amy and Mac after Vincent towards the man's small cottage, beaming was more like it as he had his arm around not Mac's shoulders…but her waist nearly the entire way AND she was wearing his tweed jacket as it was chilly. Ish. Slightly chilly…

Ok, not really chilly at all, but she was wearing his jacket! Point to the Doctor! Yes.

"Dark night," the Doctor commented, looking around at the alleys as they passed them, on the alert for the creature that might be hiding out in the shadows.

"Starry night," Mac nudged him, looking up instead.

The Doctor looked at her and smiled at that, at how she was observing the sky instead of the alleys. It…warmed his hearts SO much to see that. Because he knew that meant she trusted that they were safe at the moment, that HE would keep them safe, keep HER safe. For her to be at ease with a creature out there meant she didn't think it was there at the moment, that she didn't think the situation was dangerous. And, well, seeing her stargazing like they had so often done on the beaches was beautiful. On Gallifrey they'd both had very different places they liked to relax and things they liked to do. As ironic as it was, given that HE was the one who had gone off to travel among the stars, he had preferred lying on the red fields during the day and look at the clouds. Mac had always been the one to favor the beaches at night and look at the stars. He had a small niggling in the back of his mind that the reason he'd gone to the stars instead of just wanted reassignment across the planet was because of Mac. The stars were something she loved and…he knew she always looked at them at night, no matter what or where she was, she'd look and, if he was out there among the stars, then she was looking at HIM too, then she was loving him too. It was as close to feeling loved by the woman HE loved as he could get during his long travels.

"It's not much," Vincent sighed as he opened the door to his home, "I live on my own. But you should be ok for one night. ONE night."

"We're going to stay with him?" Amy whispered to the Time Lords.

"Until he paints that church," the Doctor nodded.

Mac was a bit on edge about this, biting her lip as they waited for Vincent to let them in. She was all too aware of what Vincent would do in the future, of how delicate the man's mind was. She always had a…soft spot for those with a mental affliction, especially because of the Master, how they suffered, how their own minds were attacking them and there was so little that could be done to help. She didn't want to do anything that would harm the man further or affect him negatively and…things tended to escalate when the Doctor was around.

"Watch out," Vincent remarked as he took his hat off, placing it on a hook and lighting a lamp, "That one's wet."

"What?" Amy turned as they entered, stopping short as she saw the cottage was FILLED with paintings, what looked like nearly every painting Vincent had painted in his life, _Bedroom in Arles, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, Blossoming Almond Tree, Prisoners Exercising (after Dore), Wheat Field with Cypresses, La Berceuse__...just everything! It was wonderful._

"Sorry about all the clutter," Vincent muttered.

"It's a lovely clutter though," Mac smiled at _Starry Night_.

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me."

"Wow," Amy breathed, moving around the room, looking at paintings, "I mean, really. Wow," she turned, starting to smile when she caught the Doctor looking at a painting and then glancing over at Mac as she smiled at them too, the man studying her as she grinned.

"Yeah, I know it's a mess," Vincent sighed, "I'll have a proper clear-out. I must, I really must. Coffee, anyone?" he headed into a side room.

"Not for me, actually," the Doctor called as Mac shook her head politely. He turned to pop his head into the room Vincent had disappeared through to see him putting his coffee pot down on _Still Life: Basket with Six Oranges__, "_You know, you should be careful with these. They're... precious," he sighed as Vincent just swiped at the coffee ring, not seeming to care.

"Precious to me. Not precious to anyone else."

"They're precious to me!" Amy called as they all gathered in the main room.

"Well, you're very kind," Vincent smiled at her, a faint blush to his cheeks, "And kindness is most welcome."

"They really are lovely Vincent," Mac told him, "Just…incredible," she reached out and lightly touched the _Starry Night_, it was dry, she could feel the paint strokes, it was just wonderful.

"Right, so, this church, then," the Doctor called, seeing Vincent turn a smile at Mac as well, "Near here, is it?"

"What is it with you and the church?" Vincent had to ask, "Are you and eh, Mackenzie, looking to wed?"

"No!" the Doctor said quickly, glancing at Mac, hoping that Vincent's words hadn't alarmed her or made her uncomfortable, "No, no, nothing like that just… casually interested in it, you know."

"Far from casual," Vincent scoffed, "Seems to me. you never talk about anything else," he looked at Mac, "He's a strange one you've reeled in."

"Oh, I haven't reeled him in," Mac smiled.

"Perhaps not yet," Vincent remarked, "It's quite clear he's rather snared though."

"Ok!" the Doctor cut in, starting to fidget, not…not wanting other people to bring up his own feelings to Mac, that was something private and something that THEY had to talk about together, "Let's talk about you. What are you interested in?"

"I don't know Doctor, what is the room filled with?" Mac gave him an amused look.

"Art," Vincent nodded, holding out his arms to the various paintings around them, "It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see. I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of…" he trailed off a moment, seeing that the Doctor's gaze had turned to look at Mac through everything he'd said. He smiled, "But it seems you've already learned that."

The Doctor glanced over, seeing that he'd been caught out by everyone in the room but Mac and started to flush.

Amy laughed and shook her head, taking pity on him and taking Mac's arm, "Come on, there's even more outside," she turned to lead the Time Lady out.

"Stay close!" the Doctor called after them.

"You'd like that!" Amy shouted back, making him flush even more.

~8~

"So…" Amy began as she and Mac wandered outside, looking at the paintings, "Are you sure you and the Doctor aren't going to try and elope once we get to the church?" she teased, not knowing how else to bring up the church.

"We're not going to elope Amy," Mac laughed, "Eloping implies the need to run away and do it without permission. There's really no one to stop us if we wanted to get married."

"Would you?"

"Would I what?" Mac asked, before turning around, hearing a cracking noise behind her.

"Want to get married?"

Mac frowned and turned back to Amy, "You're the second person to ask me about marriage."

Amy shrugged, "Not much else to think of when you hear the Doctor talking about a church so much."

Mac nodded, that was reasonable enough, and turned around once more to step out into the yard, looking around, hearing another crack, like a twig snapping, "I'm not sure, I…had a really bad experience with one marriage…"

"Doesn't mean your second marriage won't be a better one though," Amy argued, "Could be amazing if, you know, you give it a chance. Find the right man…right Doctor…"

Mac laughed, "Amy it wouldn't bother me their profession," she remarked, thinking Amy's words were a remnant of Rory and his being a nurse, trying to be a doctor. Amy had said one or two random remarks over the last few weeks that made both her and the Doctor think she had some sort of vague recollection of Rory, perhaps an after affect of trying so hard to remember him and grasping at that for so long after he'd been erased.

Amy just blinked at her before shaking her head, ok, perhaps she would need a different tactic here, "Mac…" she began…only for Mac to go flying through the air as though something had hit her, "DOCTOR!" she screamed running to Mac's side, checking to make sure she was ok as the Time Lady groaned and stood, the two of them able to hear a faint panting/grunting/breathing noise coming from the back.

"Kenzie!?" the Doctor came running out of the cottage, "Amy? Kenzie!" he rushed over to them, falling to his knees to check as Mac held her side, wincing, "What happened?" he gingerly reached out to touch her side but pulled away when she winced.

"I dunno," Amy shook her head, "We were having a look at the paintings out here when something just hit her! Sent her flying…"

"It's ok," he panted, looking around but seeing nothing, "He's gone now and we're here."

"No!" Vincent suddenly shouted, lifting his hands in fear and stumbling backwards, staring ahead of him in horror.

"Take it easy," the Doctor turned, moving himself in front of Mac and Amy, seeing Vincent looking as though he were having a fit, "Take it easy!"

"What's happening?" Amy frowned as Vincent grabbed a large branch with a forked end, holding it up like a weapon, "What's he doing?"

"I don't know," he breathed, quickly turning to pull Mac to the side as Vincent ran past them, "Oh, dear."

"Run!" Vincent cried, "Run!"

**"**Yeah, yeah, yeah," he nodded, "That's not a bad idea. Amy, take her," he helped get Mac's arm around Amy's shoulders, on her good side, "Get her back. He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down."

"Doctor…" Mac grunted as she was pulled her feet, trying to grab his arm with her injured side, seeing Vincent swinging his stick at something, jabbing it at something they couldn't see, but Amy pulled her back.

"Easy, Vincent, easy," the Doctor moved in front of him, "Look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me. It's the Doctor, look. No one else is here. So, Vincent..."

"Look out!" Vincent shouted as the Doctor, much like Mac, was thrown to the side as something hit him.

A roar went out and the picture in front of Amy and Mac was shredded by a giant, invisible claw.

"I can't see anything!" Amy gasped, "What is it?"

"That is a good question," the Doctor agreed, pushing himself up and rushing to help Vincent, who seemed able to see it, picking up a stick to defend them with, "Let me help you."

**"**You can see him, too?" Vincent turned for only a moment…

But the Doctor had run to the other end of the yard and started swinging his stick, "Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really."

"Doctor!" Mac shouted, rushing forward and grabbing a small container of paint that was sitting along the wall and throwing it in the direction Vincent was facing. The creature roared again as the paint hit it, but became visible to everyone else when the paint remained in the air, covering something that looked faintly birdlike. Vincent quickly lunged forward and struck at the beast, causing it to rear back and run off into the woods, disappearing in the darkness of the night.

"Doctor…" Amy breathed, staring at the woods as was the Doctor, "What was that?"

But the Doctor could only shake his head.

"Well before it come back, let's get back inside," Mac wheezed, pressing a hand to her side.

The Doctor was beside her in an instant, putting her good arm around his shoulders to help her back into the house, Vincent keeping watch till they were in. He led her over to a small chair, helping her sit. He flashed her with the sonic, knowing that he couldn't exactly tug up or down her dress to check her side with his naked eye. He winced though when he saw the results, "Bruised ribs," he mumbled, "Not fun."

"Didn't think it would be," she mumbled, shifting on the small chair to sit more comfortably, "Should be fine in a few hours if I don't move much though."

He nodded at that, knowing that Time Lords healed faster than humans did, "Right so…it was invisible," he nodded, getting them back to the point, "I may have something that can identify it but I'll need an image of it…"

"I can do that," Vincent offered, turning to grab a painting of irises and pouring white paint over it.

"Oh, no, no, no!" the Doctor called as Amy gasped in horror at seeing the priceless work of art destroyed.

"What?" Vincent just looked at them.

"If you love your art so much, you ought to treat it with more respect," Mac mumbled, closing her eyes and trying to focus on anything but the pain in her side.

The Doctor just sighed, "On you go," and watched as Vincent quickly sketched out the creature with charcoal, making some sort of bird or griffon-like creature with scales instead of feathers in places, "Ok," he nodded taking it, "Right. Amy, make Mr. Van Gogh comfortable and keep an eye on Kenzie. Kenzie, don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."

"Wasn't going to Doctor," Mac murmured, "I'm not a human…or you."

"Oi!" he pouted a moment.

"But it could be outside, waiting," Amy reminded him.

"Don't worry, I'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see?"

"Take a canister of paint," Mac offered, nodding to the white paint that Vincent had used, "If you hear anything odd, flick some paint at it, and if it moves splash the paint out. If you can see it, it's not as much a threat."

The Doctor nodded and grabbed the small bucket of paint, tucking the sketch under his other arm, "Don't worry," he smiled at them, "I'll be back before you can say, 'Where's he got to now?'" he winked, dropping a kiss onto Mac's head before he stepped out of the room.

"Don't even try it Doctor!" Mac shouted as Amy turned her back, the ginger human looking over her shoulder to see the Doctor had appeared in the doorway again, his mouth open as though to spook them.

The Doctor pouted and slouched as he turned to sulkily leave the cottage on his mission.

Amy had to laugh and shake her head at that, "I was wrong, River's definitely not his wife," she told Mac, "YOU so ARE."

Mac just shook her head in return, "I just know him."

~8~

Mac was a little annoyed with herself as she had fallen asleep only moments after the Doctor left, according to Amy, had slept right through Vincent snoring away in the next room, and not woken till the Doctor had shaken her awake slightly to reveal it was morning and that he knew what the creature was.

"That's him," Vincent nodded as he looked at a small printed picture of the creature he kept seeing, "And the eyes. Without mercy."

"Can I see?" Mac held out her hand and the man handed over the print out, "A Krafayis," she read, "Travels in a pack, universal scavengers, if they fall behind they're left behind," she frowned at that, "Beast which operate on primal need to satisfy hunger. Will kill until they are killed…" she scoffed, "As though that happens much given they're invisible."

The Doctor pointed at her for that.

"Not to me though," Vincent remarked.

"Yes," he turned his finger to Vincent, "And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?"

"What about the monster?"

"Take my word for it. If you paint it, he will come."

"Ok," Vincent nodded, pushing himself to stand, not wanting to think of the monster killing any other young girls, leaving their mothers to grieve them, "I'll get my things."

"Thank you Vincent," Mac called as he headed for the door, "Once this is seen to, we'll leave you to your paintings in peace."

The Doctor waited till Vincent had stepped out of the room, the man casting a look at Amy before he left completely, and got up to check the door, peeking past it to make sure Vincent had truly gone off, "This is risky," he turned to look at Mac more so than Amy.

"Riskier than normal?" Amy frowned.

"Much more," Mac nodded, "Vincent's still got quite a few paintings left to do Amy, and if anything happens to him…time will be rewritten and all that art will never be done."

"We could lead to the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived," the Doctor swallowed hard, "Even us being here puts more of a pressure on him and his…mindset, we know, won't always hold out. If anything happens to him now, it will be our fault."

~8~

The Doctor and Mac went to check on Vincent a short while later when, after long enough a time had passed for him to gather all he'd need, he still hadn't appeared. The Doctor knocked on the man's bedroom door, Mac pushing it open slightly to see him lying on his bed, face down, curled into a ball, weeping, his hands over his ears and shaking.

"Vincent?" Mac called as they slowly made their way over to him, the Doctor crouching down beside the bed as Mac sat on the edge of it, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"It's so clear you cannot help," he nearly hissed at them, "And when you leave, and everyone always leaves, I will be left once more with an empty heart and no hope," he rolled over to glare at them.

"My experience is that there is, you know, surprisingly, always hope," the Doctor offered him a smile.

"Then your experience is incomplete. I know how it will end, and it will not end well."

"Come on," he tried to slap Vincent's back cheerily, "Come out, let's go outside…"

"Out!" Vincent shouted, starting to lash out at them, forcing the Doctor to pull Mac off the bed to avoid the man's swings, "You get out. What are you doing here? What are you doing here?!"

"Very well," he started to lead them both to the door, "We'll leave. We'll leave you…"

Mac frowned, seeing Vincent curl into a ball and turn his back on them, sobbing, and her hearts broke, "YOU go," she turned to him, "I just…can't," she shook her head, "I'll be careful," she promised, "But I can't just leave him like this Doctor."

The Doctor swallowed, glancing at Vincent, not wanting to leave her alone with him incase he tried to harm her but knowing that Mac could take care of herself and…she had experience with this sort of thing in the Master, more so than he had it seemed. He understood now, all those times the Master would find him, frantic, nearly jittery, demanding to know where Mac was and rush off to seek her out. They were times the drumming had gotten unbearable and he needed someone who believed him to comfort him. Mac DID have experience dealing with madness and soothing children, her younger siblings sometimes had nightmares and it was up to her to tend to them.

"Ok," he whispered, "Just…please DO be careful."

She nodded and winked, opening the door to let him out before she made it back over to Vincent's side, sitting on the edge of the bed again.

Vincent rolled over at the shift, the dip he felt, and forced himself up onto a hand, glaring at her, "What are you doing here!? I said GO!"

Mac just shook her head and leaned over and hugged him, startling the man for a moment…till he started shaking, sobbing into her shoulder as she rocked him, not saying a word, just offering as much comfort at she could.

~8~

It was astounding how simply being there for another person could motivate them and encourage them, even when no words were said for, before Mac knew it, Vincent was up and about and more determined than ever to go after the Krafayis and stop it. And so the trio soon found themselves following Vincent down a road, heading for the church, Amy with her arm tucked in his, carrying the canvas while Vincent had the easel. Mac had volunteered to take the palette for them while she and the Doctor ambled along behind, the Doctor with a large container of paint in hand for when they encountered the beast. That was how he'd escaped the Krafayis the first time. He'd been holding a device, ready to take it with him to Vincent's to have the man draw a better version of the creature to help identify it, when it had gone off. As it turned out, the Krafayis was right behind him and he'd turned, instantly throwing the white paint at it, giving him just enough of a distraction to rush off ahead of the beast.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy murmured to Vincent, squeezing his arm.

"But I'm not," he smiled at her, "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."

"I'm not soldiering on. I'm fine."

"Oh, Amy, I hear the song of your sadness," Vincent sighed, looking at Amy sadly, "You've lost someone I think."

"I'm not sad," Amy shook her head, the Time Lords glancing at each other for how she hadn't countered the part about losing someone.

"They why are you crying?" he asked and Amy wiped a tear away, staring at her hand as though startled to see that she was actually crying, "It's alright. I understand."

"I'm not sure I do."

"Before we get any closer," Mac called, "We really should come up with a plan for when we encounter the Krafayis…"

"We shall fight him again!" Vincent determined, pausing in his walk.

"Yeah, got that," Mac nodded, "I meant more how we should split up to deal with it. If we can't get to it with the paint before it attacks…it could kill us all since none of us but you can see it. We should have a backup plan."

"Oh, no," Vincent murmured, cutting her off, seeing the funeral procession for the deceased girl heading their way, "It's that poor girl from the village," he pulled his straw hat off, the four of them standing quietly to the side, allowing the procession on in respect, the mother glaring at Vincent but staying quiet.

"Ok then," Amy looked at the Time Lords after the procession had passed, "You _do_ have a plan, don't you?"

"No," the Doctor smiled, taking Mac's hand and walking again, "It's a thing, it's like a plan, but with more greatness."

Mac blinked at him, "How on earth you managed to keep working for UNIT without them firing you is a mystery to me."

He just laughed.

~8~

It had been…quite the experience, both watching Vincent paint the church and watch the Doctor slowly go mad from the effects of time passing 'slowly and in the right order' as he had called it. He'd gone on and on about the various painters and artists he'd met on his travel, how he'd helped them work on their masterpieces or some other such nonsense. But all too soon the danger had arrived when Vincent called out, "There! He's at the window."

The Doctor came rushing over to where Mac and Amy were watching the man paint, "Where?"

"There, on the right."

"The same window as the painting," Mac nodded.

"Come on," he turned to Mac, "We're going in."

"Well, I'm coming, too!" Vincent stepped up, but the Doctor held up a hand to stop him.

"No. You're Vincent Van Gogh. No."

"And you're Amelia Pond," Mac added, pointing warningly at Amy, "No little girls from five minutes ago allowed in the church with a dangerous Krafayis."

"But you're not armed!" Vincent argued.

"We've got enough to stop it."

"Like what?" Amy shook her head, "A sonic and paint?"

The Doctor grinned, "This one could save the world with a kettle and some string," he joked, "So we're absolutely sorted. Just have to find the right crosactic setting," he pulled the sonic out, Mac grabbing the paint container, "And stun him with it. Sonic never fails."

"As long as the Krafayis isn't made of wood," Mac countered.

"So we're golden," he nodded, taking her hand and hurrying off towards the church.

He slowed at the entrance, waiting as Mac pulled the lid off the container, giving him a nod, as he pulled out the sonic, both of them ready before they carefully entered the church. They quietly made their way to the church window, looking out at Amy and Vincent through it, listening intently, but it seemed the Krafayis wasn't there.

"It's moved," Mac whispered to him…only a moment before he went flying across the room, hit by the beast. Mac quickly threw the paint out, striking the alien and causing it to roar as it was coated in green paint. She rushed to the Doctor's side, helping him up as he flung his arm out, the sonic whirring, causing the creature to stumble back even more.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted as she ran into the room.

"Amelia we told you to stay out there!" Mac yelled at her.

"Never mind," the Doctor grabbed Mac's hand, "We'll scold her later, for now…in there!" he shoved them towards a confessional, pulling Mac into the side with him, absolutely NOT so that she would be forced into his arms and allow him the chance to hold her a moment, not at all, nope, never, "Absolutely quiet," he whispered to Amy as she hid in the other side, the Krafayis seeming to not know where they'd gone in all the chaos and running.

"Amy, deep breaths," Mac said quietly, "You need to be quieter."

Amy did her best to do that, taking deep slow breaths, before she looked to the side, hearing nothing, and pulled the curtain to the room to the side, peering past, "He's gone past…"

"Spoke too soon," Mac winced as Amy screamed, the Krafayis taking a swipe at her side and then theirs.

"That is impressive hearing he's got," the Doctor murmured, pulling Mac back as another swipe came at them, "What's less impressive are our chances of survival!"

"Hey, are you looking for me, sonny?" they heard Vincent shout and the Krafayis turn away from them. They rushed out to see the man was standing there, his stool held out in front of him to keep the creature back, "Come on. Over here. Because I'm right here waiting for you," he jabbed the stool at the creature and waved them over, "Come on. Quickly! Get behind me."

The Doctor raced out, keeping Amy and Mac behind him, flashing the sonic at the paint-covered beast as they tried to back up, but it didn't seem like the sonic was doing much good…the Krafayis seemed almost like it liked it. The Doctor ducked as it swung at him, jumping to the right to avoid another swing, SO glad that Mac had thought to cover it in paint so they could see it now.

"We need to regroup!" Mac called, pulling him back as the Krafayis tried another swipe.

"In here," Amy ran back and opened a door behind them, the four of them rushing into the room beyond, trying to shut the door but the alien had its foot in the way. The Doctor quickly stomped on it, causing it to pull back so they could shut and sonic lock the door, giving them a moment.

"Right," the Doctor panted, "Ok, here's the plan. Amy, Rory…"

"Vincent," Mac corrected instantly.

"Right, yes, you two…" he trailed off.

"What?" Amy looked at him.

But the Doctor shook his head, "I don't know, actually. But in future, I'm just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws."

"Hardly," Mac scoffed as he put it away.

"Give me a second," Vincent patted the Doctor on the shoulder before he turned to rush off, calling, "I'll be back," over his shoulder.

"I suppose we could try talking to him?" the Doctor suggested.

"Talking to him?!" Amy nearly shouted, the beast was trying to KILL them…but that was just so the Doctor wasn't it?

"The TARDIS translation is working," Mac had to admit, "It'll be able to understand us…"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "Might be interesting to know his side of the story," he winced, hearing the growl of the alien on the other side of the door, "Yes, though maybe he's not really in the mood for conversation right at this precise moment," he nearly jumped as there was a bang along with another growl this time, "Well, no harm trying," he turned to face the door, "Listen. Listen!" he blinked as the growling actually stopped, "I know you can understand me even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me…"

Mac frowned at that, pressing her ear to the door, not even able to hear the creature panting on the other side and slowly sank to her knees, pulling out a mirror from her pocket and sliding it under the door, angling it a bit as she moved it around, searching…

"I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please... listen. Kenzie and I, the two of us, we also don't belong on this planet. If you trust us, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then, who knows?"

"Doctor…" Mac began, "I can't see the Krafayis," she warned, unable to spot it in the mirror as she looked out into the hall with it…moments before the window behind them shattered and the Krafayis jumped into the room, roaring and still covered in paint, forcing them back.

"Over here, mate!" Vincent jumped in after it, holding up his easel, the stakes out first, like a weapon, distracting the Krafayis till they could move behind him, rushing to duck behind a sarcophagus and pillars set up beside it. They peeked around to look at the Krafayis as it just…pawed around the room…which was actually very odd behavior. It was acting like it was trapped which it wasn't as there was a gaping hole in the side of the room that it could escape through.

"You can see it?" Amy squinted as it moved into a dark corner, "I can't see a thing but the shadows!"

"Oh I am really stupid…" the Doctor blinked.

"Oh, get a grip! This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem."

"No, I am really stupid and I'm growing old," he looked at Mac, on the other side of the sarcophagus, hiding behind the second pillar, "Do YOU see it?" Mac frowned and looked around the pillar, watching it as the Doctor continued to speak, "Why does it attack, but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? Why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room?"

Mac gasped, realizing, "It's blind! Of course! THAT's why it's got such good hearing!"

"Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us!" Vincent called, quickly leaping over the sarcophagus, the easel out as the Krafayis charged at them, "Get back. Get back!" he stuck the easel out to try and scare it off at the same time the creature lunged…ending up impaling the Krafayis on the end of the easel stakes.

The Krafayis roared in pain and reared up, taking Vincent with him before he let go of the easel and fell to the ground, the Krafayis collapsing moments later. The trio ran out from behind the stones, all of them able to see the creature, the top half of it covered in paint, just enough to see the easel sticking out of its chest as it struggled to breathe.

"He wasn't without mercy at all," Vincent swallowed hard as he looked at it, "He was without sight. I didn't mean that to happen," he turned to Amy, "I only meant to wound it, I never meant to..." he started to weep as the creature let out a pained noise, Amy moving to his side to hug him tightly.

The Doctor and Mac moved to the alien instead, gently touching its head and leg, trying to sooth it, unable to bring themselves to translate what the pained noises were…it was scared, so they stood by it, comforting it as it slowly stopped breathing…

~8~

The small group found themselves lying in a field, staring up at the stars that night, wanting to comfort Vincent, the man just guilt ridden that he'd harmed a creature that hadn't meant any harm, that had just been scared and lost. He reached out and took Amy and Mac's hands as they laid next to him, the girls taking the Doctor's hands as he laid across from Vincent, forming a small circle, "Try to see what I see," he murmured, staring at the stars, "We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue," he pointed up with Mac's hand, "And over there, lighter blue," before letting go of Amy's to swipe his hand across the sky, painting a picture for them in their minds, "And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars!" they smiled, envisioning the sky becoming like his _Starry Night_ painting, "Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

"I've seen many things, my friend," the Doctor began, "But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."

Vincent smiled softly, "I doubt that is true Doctor," he leaned his head back to look at the man upside down, "I believe you have seen true beauty everyday of your life," he smiled, seeing the Doctor turn his head towards Mac, squeezing the girl's hand. He looked to his own side, picking up Amy's hand to squeeze it tighter, "I will miss you terribly."

~8~

"I only wish I had something of real value to give you," Vincent lamented as he stood before the trio in his cottage the next morning, the Doctor holding his _Self Portrait with Straw Hat_, having offered it to them as a gift for their help and support and kindness.

"Oh, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, "I could never accept such an extraordinary gift."

"I could," Mac smiled, taking it, knowing that Vincent would make many self portraits in his life, this one could easily be replaced, "Thank you Vincent," she smiled at him, moving to hug him, "I will treasure it forever."

Vincent beamed at that, hugging her tightly, "You are the first to think it's a treasure," he murmured to her.

Mac pulled back, "I think YOU are the first actually," she winked at him.

He chuckled and turned to Amy, "Amy, the blessed," he held out his arms to her, "The wonderful," and hugged her as well.

Amy kissed his cheek gently, "Be good to yourself and be kind to yourself."

"I'll try my best," he promised.

"And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone," she joked, rubbing her cheek.

"I will. I will. And if you tire of these travels of yours, return and we will have children by the dozen!" he laughed as she gave a small 'eek' at that idea, "Doctor, my friend," he reached out to shake the Doctor's hand, "We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well."

The Doctor hugged him tightly before pulling back, "About that…" he started to smile, "Kenzie and I were talking…" more like he was arguing for while she was reminding him about the laws in place and he was countering the loopholes in them till he finally wore her down and she agreed, "And…there's something we want you to see."

~8~

The Doctor and Mac smiled as they stepped out of the TARDIS in Paris, in the modern era, allowing Vincent out after them, the man looking around in awe as Amy shut the doors behind her, "Where are we?" he asked.

"Paris. 2010 AD," the Doctor replied, "And this," he gestured at the large building across the road, "Is the mighty Musee D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Vincent smiled at the thought of historical and famous art pieces as he followed them towards it, glancing at two boys walking past with strange devices.

"Vincent?" Mac called, getting his attention back, "Come on, this really is VERY important."

Vincent nodded and focused on them, following them quickly to the museum, trying his level best not to get distracted by all the lovely pieces around him. It was hard when they were all so…beautiful. But Amy took his arm to keep him on track, leading him up some stairs and past more and more famous exhibits…till they reached a room…that was full of HIS art.

Mac smiled, seeing him staring at the paintings in sheer awe and disbelief and could admit that…the Doctor had a bit of a point in thinking to bring him there. They both knew that, no matter what, mental afflictions couldn't be handled and dealt with and cured instantly, especially not one as severe as Vincent's. They both were well aware that his life on that earth was limited and coming to a near end. They doubted being here would extend his life, would cure him but…they could offer him comfort in knowing that his work would be loved and hailed as genius in the future. They wanted to give him some sort of comfort in that…unlike with Adelaide, this was something they knew wouldn't push him to end his life, but would ensure that he fought to the bitter end.

Mac looked over and spotted Dr. Black walking around without a lecture group this time and slowly made her way over to him, "Dr. Black?" she called, "Agent Mackenzie," she smiled, "I just wanted to thank you for your help the other day when I asked about the church at Auvers."

"Oh, yes," he nodded, "Glad to be of help. Your husband was nice about my tie."

"Yes," the Doctor grinned, draping an arm around Mac's shoulders as she opened her mouth to tell him he wasn't actually her husband, "And today is another cracker if I may say so," he pointed at Black's latest tie.

"There was another question I had for you, if you don't mind?" Mac continued, "Not UNIT related, but more…about the actual art?"

"Yes, of course," Black nodded.

"What do YOU think of Vincent Van Gogh's work? In the grand scope of art, the entire history of it, where would you place his creations?"

"Well…" Black blinked a bit, not seeing Amy leading Vincent over to hear the answer, "Big question. But, to me, Van Gogh is the _finest_ painter of them , the most popular, great painter of all time, the most beloved. His command of color, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world, no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived."

"I agree," Mac smiled at that.

The Doctor beamed and looked over to see Vincent's eyes red as he silently cried, overwhelmed at the compliment he'd just been given. To go his entire life thinking he was a failure, that his art was worthless, and then to have an art expert in the future say that it was…the greatest ever created? He could only imagine what that felt like to the man after suffering so long for his art, "Vincent," he moved over to him, "We're sorry. Is it too much?" he hugged him a moment.

"No," Vincent laughed, "They are tears of joy!" he moved past the Doctor and nearly rushed to Black, giving the man a Gallic kiss, "Thank you, sir. Thank you!" and hugged him tightly.

"You're welcome?" Black hugged him back tentatively, not entirely sure what was going on.

Vincent seemed to sense that as he stepped back hastily, "Sorry about the beard," and headed back to the trio, Mac giving him a hug before Amy linked her arm with his and they led him out of the museum once more.

~8~

The Time Lords smiled as Vincent stepped out of the box as it materialized in an olive grove near his cottage, "This changes everything!" the painter cheered, Amy beaming to see him so happy and fully of joy, "I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."

"It's been a great adventure and a great honor," the Doctor shook Vincent's hand, hugging him tightly.

"You've turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life."

"I'm delighted," he smiled, "I won't ever forget you," he turned to head into the TARDIS.

"And you, Miss Mackenzie…"

"Just Mac, Vincent," she laughed, hugging him as well.

"Thank you for…for being there," he told her, "Comfort does not always come in words."

"I know," she nodded, "You keep that in mind as well, comfort can come in creation as well."

He gave her a small nod at that, knowing she meant his art, and turned to Amy, "And you are sure marriage is out of the question?"

"This time," Amy hugged him, whispering, "I'm not really the marrying kind," in his ear before kissing his cheek and dashing back into the TARDIS, "Come on. Let's go back to the gallery right now."

~8~

The Time Lords followed Amy as she rushed towards the museum, the human hardly waiting till the TARDIS had set down before racing out, "Time can be rewritten," she cheered, "I know it can. Come on!" she hurried on, leading them up the stairs, wanting to get back to the exhibit, "Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There'll be hundreds of new paintings!"

"Amy…" Mac tried to call after her, "There may not be…"

But Amy had already raced in with a shout of, "Come on!"

…only to stop short when she saw the same paintings were in there.

"We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at only 37," Dr. Black was lecturing, Amy closing her eyes in sorrow as she heard that, "He is now acknowledged to be one of the foremost artists of all time. If you follow me now..."

"Amy?" Mac stepped over to her, putting a hand on her arm in comfort.

"You were right," she whispered, "No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all."

"I wouldn't say that," the Doctor shook his head, "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things," he put his arm around her, giving her a small hug, "The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant," he pulled away, smiling at her, "And we definitely added to his pile of good things."

"And…we DID make quite the difference," Mac called them over to the Church painting, "And I'd say a few little ones as well," she nodded at the painting, the shadow missing from the window.

"No Krafayis," Amy realized.

"No Krafayis."

The Doctor and Mac looked at the painting a moment longer as Amy turned around to look at all the others, "You were my good thing," the Doctor told Mac.

"What?" she looked at him.

He smiled at her, "In life, my pile of good things, there were my children, yeah," he nodded, "The adventures, the companions, but…underneath it all, the greatest good thing in my life…was you."

Mac smiled at that, "You were both," she had to admit, knowing better than to lie to him, "You were my good thing, and then you were my bad thing, the thing that made all the other bad things possible," she took a breath, taking his hand when she saw him look down, "But…" she added as he turned to her, "You're more than making up for that now," she told him, "You're becoming one of the greater things again."

He beamed at that, pulling her into a hug, so relieved to hear that and…thinking perhaps he wouldn't need a wingman or wing-woman any more. He'd found quite a bit of hope in what she'd said. He knew he'd caused her a lot of pain and a lot of 'bad things' in her life…but to hear that he was bringing more good things to her life now…that was wonderful.

They looked back to see that Amy was standing across the room, staring at _Still Life: Vase With Twelve Sunflowers_," and headed over to her, noticing she was standing there for quite a while and smiled when they saw 'For Amy' painted onto the vase just above Vincent's signature.

_"_If we had got married, our kids would have had very, _very_ red hair," she mused.

"The ultimate ginger," the Doctor joked.

"The ultimate ginge," she nodded, smiling, "Brighter than sunflowers."

Mac looked at Amy and reached out to rub her back in comfort, Amy turning to lean her head on Mac's shoulder as they looked at the art piece and remembered the greatest painter who ever lived.

A/N: I hate the times when you're sick and you just sleep through everything :( I apologize for the second time this story is late, I apparently slept though my alarm for posting the chapters and didn't wake up till about 5 minutes ago, which is why there was no tumblr post to warn about the lateness :( -sigh- Sorry!

I wonder if Amy will be able to get through to Mac...hmm... :) I always wondered why no one just threw paint at the Krafayis given that it was just invisible not incorporeal, they would have been able to see it easily like that :) I really like how Mac goes for the simple options instead of the complex :)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, I have no idea. My dad gets really weird and set in his ways. At that point, I think he was literally going through the 'suggested checklist' of items to bring and trying to get everything on it. It's sweet in one sense, because I was the first born, his daughter, made him a father the day before Father's Day, named after his departed mother...and he wanted to get me everything on the list that I might need so I'd be ok and taken care of...but in another sense he gets so worked up and angry if you don't do what he wants. -sigh- We came to a compromise in the end though, we got the spray wrinkle remover stuff where you spray and tug :)

I agree, sometimes less is more, we might see a bit of more though in a very close chapter ;)

Everything was ok with the chapter, it was me that wasn't :( -sigh- This cold is just terrible, I literally slept through my entire family coming home for lunch and they are LOUD :( I actually think 3 of my immediate family might be bipolar, or have bipolar tendencies. My mother, we 'joke' has these moods, ('mom's in one of her moods again) where she goes from fine to angry, happy to sad, with no warning and more often than normal. My dad, we try to think, is more of the he can dish it out but can't take it sort of person, he'll joke but if you joke back at him he snaps. My brother will be joking and smiling coming home, go up stairs, and then within an hour come down with an enormous attitude and just be angry :( My sister just doesn't care and sits on her laptop ignoring it all so I think she's ok. Unfortunately my aunts and uncles are all hours away and I have school for the next two months. I'm hoping once I graduate I can get a better job and move out :) And that's ok, I'm very touched that you're concerned :')


	12. The Lodgers

The Lodgers

The TARDIS doors opened in the middle of a small park, the Doctor rushing out of it with a grin…only for it to fall to a pout as he saw where they were, Earth, again, "No, Amy," he sighed, "It's definitely not the fifth moon of Sinda Callista. I think I can see a Ryman's…"

Mac laughed and made her way to the doorway, peeking out at him as Amy huffed and flopped back onto the jump seat, crossing her arms at the latest flub, "I told you to run an environment scan," she wiggled her finger at him teasingly, only for him to reach out and take her finger, not letting go of her hand, "We're on Earth, England, Colchester actually, and…"

She was suddenly cut off when the doors swung shut behind her, sending her toppling out of the TARDIS and into the Doctor, the two of them falling backwards onto the ground, Mac on top of the Doctor as he broke her fall. They looked at each other a moment before turning their heads as they heard the TARDIS starting to dematerialize and rushed to their feet, "Amy!" Mac cried.

"Amy!" the Doctor tried to rush to the doors…but the TARDIS disappeared before he could even reach them, "Amy…"

Mac shook her head and quickly pulled out Martha's mobile from her pocket, having taken to keeping it on her ever since San Helios when they'd needed a mobile, and called up the TARDIS…

~8~

The door to a rather lovely little house was thrown open moments after the Doctor pushed the bell for it and a slightly plump man with some stubble appeared, his arms out wide as he cried, "I love you!"

And then seemed to notice that it was not the person he was clearly expecting but someone else, two someones really for there on his doorstep was the Doctor and Mac, smiling at him, the Doctor with a dopey grin, and Mac with a more amused smile.

"Well, I expected as much for Kenzie here," the Doctor turned to her winking before he turned back to the man in question, "Everyone loves her. But no one more than me."

"Everyone loves you too Doctor," she patted his shoulder.

But he turned, taking her hand, "Even you?"

"Of course me too," she nodded, turning to shake the man's hand as he gaped at them, "Hello, pleasure, we'd like to take you up on the lodging offer?" she held up his small advert that had been set up in a paper shop window.

"Do you know," the Doctor reached out and plucked a set of keys that were in the man's hand up, "This is going to be easier than I expected! Is that usually what happens when one has a plan instead of a thing?" he had to ask, it had been more her plan they were going with this time instead of one of his 'things.'

He was starting to think, perhaps they ought to alternate, if just to keep it interesting.

"But I only just put the advert up today!" the man took the paper, looking at it, "I didn't put my address."

"We just asked the shop owner who put the ad up, he was very kind as to tell us where you lived so we might see the house ourselves," Mac shrugged, they really had.

"And aren't you lucky we came along? More lucky than you know. More lucky than I know probably," he draped his arm around Mac's shoulders, "But then again, I'm just lucky to have Kenzie so I can't really say how lucky I am otherwise."

"Agent Mackenzie," she introduced herself, shaking the man's hands, "I work for UNIT, you did say young professional…" she nodded at the paper, "And this is the Doctor…also a doctor…"

"Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur," he reached out to shake the man's hand as well, a bit too animatedly and excitedly, "But frankly I'm an absolute dream."

"Many would argue a nightmare," Mac warned.

"And Kenzie here is just a lovely fantasy," the Doctor chuckled, leaning in to whisper, "I'm still not quite sure she's actually real."

"Hang on, mate," the man shook his head, "I don't know if I want you staying, and give me back those keys, you can't have those!" he took them back.

"Yes, quite right, have some rent," he turned and pulled a paper bag from his coat pocket, half shoving it into the man's chest, the man peeking in to see it was nearly filled with notes, "That's probably quite a lot, isn't it? Looks like a lot. Is it a lot? I can never tell though Kenzie DID warn it was a lot. Probably should have listened to her, shouldn't I?"

"Yes," Mac nodded, "And technically," she tugged the bag back, out of the man's stunned hands, "You're supposed to wait till you've been given the room before you hand over the rent."

"Right, yes," the Doctor nodded, squeezing her hand and leading her into the house, pushing past the man and into the foyer, "Well, when you do get it," he turned to the man, "Don't spend it all on sweets. Unless you like sweets. I like sweets. I like Kenzie too. She's sweet. Used to be a bit sour," he turned to smile at her, "Sorry dear," and then back to the man, "But now she's very sweet, incredibly sweet, the sweetest. The…"

Mac made the 'stop talking' motion, quieting him down just as the lights above them flickered, "Not very decent electrical here…" she remarked.

"Oh, we've been rude," the Doctor realized, stepping up to the rather overwhelmed man and giving him two Gallic air kisses on his cheeks, "That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it?" he turned to Mac, "Well, if it's not, it ought to be. That's how I'm going to do it for humans from now on."

"And what about non-humans?" she joked, knowing that the man was still trying to wrap his mind around all the money he'd seen in the bag to really pay attention to what they were saying.

"Aliens, get a customary greeting in their proper cultural frames," he nodded.

"And us?" she wondered, mused, "How would you greet me?"

"Dangerous question, Kenzie, dangerous question," he pointed at her warningly, before spinning around to face the man again, "As Kenzie said, I'm the Doctor. Well, they call me the Doctor, I don't know why. I call me the Doctor too. Still don't know why."

"Because you ARE the Doctor," Mac laughed, it really was so amusing to see him trying to play human, he was rubbish at it!

"Craig Owens," the man blinked, shaking his head, confused, "The Doctor?"

"Yep. Who lives upstairs?"

Craig glanced at the stairs, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"We'd like to know our other flatmates if we get the room," Mac offered.

"Um…just some bloke," Craig shrugged.

"What does he look like?" the Doctor asked intently.

"Normal. He's very quiet…" he winced as a loud bang went off above them, "Usually. Sorry, who are you again?" but the Doctor just turned and walked into the flat through a door that lead to the parlor, "Hello?!"

"Sorry," Mac apologized, rushing after him.

"Excuse me?" Craig tried to get the Doctor's attention.

"Ah…" the Doctor pointed at a sort of stain in the corner of the ceiling, a bit dark, spreading quite wide, "I suppose that's...dry rot?"

"Or damp. Or mildew."

"Could be mold," Mac added, glancing at the Doctor, they both knew it was…

"Or none of the above," the Doctor murmured.

"I'll get someone to fix it," Craig offered.

"No, I'll fix it," the Doctor turned to him, only for Mac to scoff beside him, "I'm good at fixing things!" he defended.

"Name one thing in the…car," she gave him a meaningful look, "That you fixed without breaking further or needed me to try and fix, or…"

"Ok, I'm good at fixing rot," he corrected, "Call me the Rotmeister."

"No," she shook her head.

"Call me the Doctor," he said instantly at that.

Mac chuckled and looked around, "You have a lovely parlor Craig."

"You're obviously a man of impeccable taste," the Doctor agreed, hopping up to sit on the countertop, "What do you think of Kenzie?"

"I'm sorry?" Craig shook his head, "What?"

"What do you think of her?"

"Um…she's…nice?" Craig offered.

"No, no, what do you think of her hair?"

"I um…I prefer blondes actually."

The Doctor beamed, brilliant! That meant he didn't find Mac to his tastes (even though it was hard for him to imagine anyone couldn't) and therefore would not be seeking her attention in that manner…one less thing for him to be worrying about then.

"So Craig?" Mac looked at him, "Do you think we may qualify for the room?"

"Do we?" the Doctor turned to him, "We'd love to stay here Craig. We can we stay, can't we? Say we can."

"You haven't even seen the room," Craig remarked, finding it a bit odd they both wanted to rent the room together. They didn't seem to be married or engaged, no rings, nor did they seem in a relationship or siblings...he really didn't know what they were but well, if they were going to pay for the room...it wasn't his business to stick his nose into it.

The Doctor blinked, "The room?"

"The one we want to rent," Mac gave him a pointed look.

"Oh, yes, OUR room, our room. Take us to our room!" he grinned.

Craig shook his head, seeming to give up and turned to lead them into the hallway, down it to a slightly empty room, one that looked a bit lived in yet seemed to have been emptied in a hurry, "Yeah, this is Mark's old room, he owns the place, moved out about a month ago. An uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money."

"Almost like he won the lottery," Mac crossed her arms at the Doctor.

He grinned and shrugged, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and bounce a bit on it, "How very convenient. This'll do just right. In fact..." they looked up, hearing more noises from above, "No time to lose. We'll take it," he got up, "Ah...you'll want to see our credentials," he pulled out the psychic paper, holding it up, "There...National Insurance number," before switching it behind his back, "NHS number," and once more, "References..."

Craig blinked and gaped, "Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?!"

"I'm his special favorite," he put a finger to his lip, "Can't say the same about him though, Kenzie's my special favorite. Always has been, always will be," he turned to wink at her, pointing at her a moment, before turning back to Craig, speaking quickly, starting to flush at having been so obvious again, "Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

"Oh Doctor," Mac shook her head at him, he really was just all over the place wasn't he?

"I haven't got anything in," Craig warned but the Doctor was already out the door and heading to the kitchen, the two of them catching up in time to see him searching through the fridge and the cupboards for the ingredients and utensils he needed.

"You've got everything I need for an omelette fines herbes!" he spoke, "Pour tres!" and quickly began to cook, winking at Mac as he went, "Maybe I ought to make Kilell after this?"

She shook her head, "Can't. Don't have the right ingredients."

He pouted, "I'm sure I could figure something out. Substitutions and things…"

"That would take ages Doctor," she remarked, "Centuries even."

He shrugged, "I'd do it, for you," he nodded, "Alright, little wager, for your 1000th Birthday, I'll make you Kilell."

She laughed but nodded, "You can try."

He grinned at that, before nodding at the fridge, "So who's the girl on the fridge?"

Craig turned to see he'd spotted a picture of himself and a thin, tall, blonde woman, "My friend. Sophie."

"Girlfriend or girl who's a friend?" Mac asked, knowing that was a rather important distinction.

"The second one. There's nothing going on."

"But you wish there was, don't you?" Mac picked up.

The Doctor sighed, "Sure, work THAT out," he muttered, she could pick up on the fact that a human had a crush on another human but not how HE felt about HER?

"We met at work about a year ago at the call center," Craig added.

"Oh, really, a communications exchange? That could be handy."

"Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do, I got a plan all worked out, but I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best. Why am I telling you this?" he frowned at them, "I don't even know you."

Mac shrugged, "Well, if we're going to be living here, we might as well get to know each other, yes?"

Craig nodded, "Right…where's your stuff?"

"Don't worry," the Doctor smiled, "It'll materialize, if all goes to plan."

"I hope your cooking is better than your puns, Doctor," Mac remarked.

"What," he smiled, "You don't think that was…punny?"

Mac just shook her head and stepped more into the parlor, looking around, subtly making her way to the stain and looking up at it.

~8~

Surprisingly, the food wasn't half bad, the omelets were delicious and Mac was very impressed. Which led the Doctor to consider that he ought to make breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks on the TARDIS from here on out. Wasn't there an Earth saying somewhere that the fastest way to a person's heart was through their stomach? Well, Mac seemed to like his food well enough and if he could win her over with that, he'd be a happy man.

"Oh, that was incredible!" Craig gushed, "That was absolutely brilliant."

"It really was very good Doctor," Mac nodded.

"Where did you learn to cook?"

"Paris," he answered, "In the 18th century," he winced as Mac slapped his shoulder, sitting on the armrest of the sofa chair he was on, while Craig was on the larger sofa, "No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? 17th?" he looked at Mac as she shook her head, "No, no, no, 20th. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?" Craig frowned at him.

"They never really stop. Ever been to Paris, Craig? We have, took Kenzie all the way up to the top of the tower, most beautiful sight in all of Paris."

"The view was lovely," she nodded.

"Yes, the VIEW was," he agreed, gazing at HER pointedly, though she didn't seem to notice.

"Nah, I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler."

The Doctor looked back over at him, "I can tell from your sofa."

"My sofa?"

"You're starting to look like it."

Mac shook her head at that but Craig just laughed, "Thanks, mate, that's lovely! No, I like it here," he nodded, starting to get lost in thought as he fiddled with the pink keys the Doctor had tried to take earlier, "I'd miss it, I'd miss..."

"Those keys?"

"What?" he looked over at them.

"You seem to have quite the grasp on them," Mac nodded don at them where his thumb was running over a little pink koosh ball.

"I'm just holding them for a friend," he defended, setting them down on the armrest.

"Of course," Mac nodded slowly, not quite believing him.

"Anyway..." he pushed himself up and headed to a small table by the door that had a bowl on it, fishing something out of it, a set of keys and headed back to them, "These... these are your keys."

Mac smiled, "So we've got the room then?"

"We can stay?" the Doctor nearly jumped up and ran to meet him halfway across the room to get the keys.

"Yeah," Craig shrugged, "You're weird but Mackenzie seems normal enough. And you can cook, it's good enough for me," he held up the keys, explaining them, "Right, outdoor, front door, your door."

"Our door," the Doctor beamed, looking at Mac, "Our place. Our gaff," before he took the keys, "Ha ha, "Yes! Look," he turned to Mac, "Now I've got a key too!"

Mac nodded, laughing, "It looks wonderful on you, Doctor"

"And listen," Craig leaned in to speak quietly to the Doctor, glancing at Mac as she moved to dispose of their garbage, "Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, ok?" he winked.

The Doctor winked, back, "Why would I want that?"

"In case you want any alone time with Mackenzie."

"No, no," he shook his head, speaking quickly, "No, alone time is bad. Bad alone time. Won't be needing that, no."

Craig gave him an odd look for that, "Ok then…"

"Craig," Mac called, glancing at the stain, "I really don't like the look of that stain, if you'd like I can call in some experts to look at it. I've got a few contacts.

"Yeah, sure," Craig nodded, "That'd be great."

"Good, but, until then, don't touch it ok?"

"Wasn't going to," Craig smiled before he headed to the hall, making his way to his own room, leaving the Time Lords to go check theirs out.

Mac tossed the Doctor Martha's mobile the minute the door closed behind them, the Doctor calling up the TARDIS, "Earth to Pond, Earth to Pond," he greeted, "Come in, Pond."

"Doctor!" Amy shouted on the other end, the Doctor wincing as feedback struck, the phone on speaker for Mac as well, "Oooh. Sorry!"

"Amy, how's the TARDIS doing?" Mac asked.

"See for yourself," Amy grumbled and, in the silence that followed, they could hear a terrible grinding noise.

"Ooh, nasty," he plopped down onto the edge of the bed.

"It almost sounds like a materialization loop, like when a TARDIS tries to land but can't.

"And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat," Amy shouted, "So go upstairs and sort it!"

"We don't know what it is yet!" the Doctor huffed and stood on the bed, "Anything that can stop the TARDIS from landing is big, scary big!"

"Doctor get down," Mac reached up to pull him off the bed.

"Wait...are you scared?" Amy called.

"He's being cautious for once Amy," Mac told her, "If we go up there before we know what there is and what to do about it…it could get worse."

"Yes, it is vital that this 'man' upstairs doesn't realize who and what we are," the Doctor agreed, "So no sonicing. No advanced technology…" he grinned and looked at Mac, "This is right up your alley."

"Yes it is," she smiled at that, it wasn't often she could call the shots like this, "All we really have to worry about is getting you to pass as an ordinary human being."

"Ah but that'll be simple," he smiled, "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Have you seen you?" Amy scoffed.

"So you're just going to be snide? No helpful hints?"

"Hmm, well, here's one...bowtie, get rid!"

"Bowties are cool," he defended, turning Mac only for her to put her hands on her head, protecting her headband. He seemed to favor telling her how 'cool' headbands were by snapping hers up on her head, messing up her hair. He pouted a moment, before sighing, "Alright then, I'm a normal bloke, tell me what normal blokes do."

"Loads of things," Mac shrugged, "Go to the gym, work on cars…"

"Watch telly," Amy added, "They play football… they go down the pub."

"I could do those things!" the Doctor defended, "I don't, but I could!"

"I'd love to see the day you try your hand at a pub game Doctor," Mac laughed, "You act like you're a little tipsy already."

"Well that's hardly my fault that I'm drunk on your presence," he stuck out his tongue at her…only for a crash to go off above them and Amy to scream over the mobile.

"Amy?" Mac called, hearing sparks going off, "Amelia!"

"Kenzie," the Doctor pointed to the side where they could see the hands of the clocks in he room starting to spin back and forth, "Interesting," he checked the same thing happening on his wrist watch, "Localized time loop."

"Harmful," Mac corrected, "Amelia are you alright?"

"Ow!" Amy grunted, "What's all that?"

"It's a time distortion," Mac warned her, "Whatever is going on upstairs, it's reaching the TARDIS."

"It's stopped...ish," Amy breathed, "How about your end?"

"Our end's good," Mac nodded, moving over to look at the clocks.

"Very good," the Doctor agreed…though his gaze for that slit second was not on the clocks but the person in front of them.

"So, doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?" Amy asked hopefully.

"No, no, no, not really. Just keep the zigzag plotter on full, that'll protect you."

"Ah!" Amy cried out.

"Amy, I said the zigzag plotter!"

"I pulled the zigzag plotter!"

"You know, it's not actually called the zigzag plotter, yes?" Mac huffed at the Doctor.

"You're standing with the door behind you?" the Doctor held up a finger to silence her as he focused on Amy.

"Yes!" she shouted.

"Ok, take two steps to your right," he instructed, doing the same as he spoke, "And pull it again!" the Time Lords waited till they heard the grating noise dim and let out a breath of relief, "Oh. Now, I must not use the sonic."

Mac patted his arm in encouragement, "You can help me pick out some items if it'll help distract you."

"YOU distract me," he said instantly, "I mean, yes, I would be happy to help," he smiled, snapping the phone closed on Amy without a goodbye, making Mac shake her head at him, but he just grinned widely at her.

~8~

Mac walked ahead of the Doctor, back towards the house, her arms full of items as the Doctor pushed a small shopping trolley behind her, the trolley just as filled as her arms with various odds and ends. He rushed ahead though when they reached the door, having held onto the keys and unlocked the door for her.

"Shh!" he called back quietly to a cat as it meowed, "Don't get comfortable!" Mac stepped in, holding the door open for the Doctor to enter, following him back to the room to get to work.

~8~

Craig blinked as he stopped in the hall to see the Doctor standing in front of the bathroom door, his arms crossed, his back to it, "Um…what are you doing?"

"Guarding," the Doctor replied.

"Guarding what?"

"Kenzie," he nodded at the door, "She's in the shower."

"Right…" Craig nodded slowly, "Um, do you know how long she'll be in there?" he looked at the man, the Doctor's hair was wet so he could only assume that he'd been in the shower first, which had to have been quick as he hadn't even heard it going earlier.

"Oh Kenzie loves the water," he shrugged, "Could be a while."

Craig looked up as a loud banging sounded, "What the hell was that?" he shook his head and headed for the stairs, "I'm just going to go upstairs, see if he's ok."

"No, Craig wait!" the Doctor tried to reach for him, to stop him, but he didn't want to leave the door or Mac unguarded, "Stop!"

But Craig disappeared around the corner, heading up the stairs.

The Doctor looked back and forth between the bathroom door and the stairs, "No choice...it's sonicing time," he quickly put his hand over his eyes and opened the door to the bathroom, "Sorry!" he called, "Sorry! Need the sonic!"

Mac looked around the shower curtain to see him walking with his eyes covered, his one hand out before him, turning towards a container by the sink where the sonic was resting among the toothbrushes, "You left the sonic in here?" she blinked, he'd showered before her but she'd thought he'd have left the sonic in their room.

"Yes, yes, sorry, won't be a tick!" he reached out and grabbed it, "Gotcha!"

"Doctor that's not…" Mac began but he was already running out of the room, Craig's electric toothbrush in hand. She sighed as he closed the door and turned the water off. Getting out and grabbing a towel to wrap around herself, before stepping out of the bathroom and heading to the halls, to the stairs where she could hear the Doctor and Craig talking when the phone rang and Craig disappeared into the flat to answer it.

"Everything alright Doctor?" Mac called as she stepped up to the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes, everything appears to be…" he cut off, letting out a bit of a squeaking noise when he turned to see her standing at the bottom of the stairs with just a towel around her, "Kenzie!" he cried, rushing down to her, "You can't…this isn't…you shouldn't…"

"Full sentences would help Doctor," she laughed.

"I'm rather incapable of them at the moment," he remarked, swallowing hard as he tried not to look at her and think bad things, "Here, take this," he pulled off his tweed jacket to drape around her shoulders, "And this…" and appeared about to pull his pants off for her…when the door opened and the woman from the fridge, Sophie, stepped in.

"Ooh!" she blinked, seeing the woman in a towel and jacket and the Doctor with his trousers down, his shirt covering everything, "Hello?"

"Ah," the Doctor nodded, shuffling over to her to shake her hand, "Hello, the Doctor. You must be Sophie."

Sophie just nodded, trying not to look at him even as he gave her a Gallic air kiss.

The Doctor stepped away and smiled, looking between the two women, "Is something wrong?" he asked Sophie when she looked up at the ceiling, flushing, not saying hello.

"Pants Doctor," Mac smirked, nodding down at the pants around his ankles.

"Oh, yes right," he nodded…and stepped out of them to hand to Mac.

"No, I didn't mean…" but he'd already walked into the flat, "Sorry about him," Mac offered to Sophie, putting the pants over her arm, "Mackenzie," she reached out to shake her hand.

"Sophie," she smiled in return.

Mac sighed, "I'd best return these," she held up the pants and followed the Doctor into the flat.

"No, Dom's in Malta," Craig was saying on the phone, "There's nobody around. Hang on a sec…" he looked at the Doctor, "We've got a match today, pub league, we're one down if you fancy it?"

"Pub league?" the Doctor blinked, "A drinking competition?"

"Football," Mac corrected.

"Oh football, yes, blokes play football! I'm good at football, I think."

"You've saved my life!" Craig patted him on the shoulder, turning back to the phone, "I've got somebody. All right, see you down there. Hey, Soph," he smiled at her, hanging up as the Doctor moved to the fridge to take out a carton of milk.

"Hey," she greeted, "I thought I'd come early and meet your new flatmates."

"Do you play, Sophie?" the Doctor asked, about to take a drink from the carton when Mac pulled it out of his hand and put it back, giving him a disapproving look and shaking her head.

"No, Soph just stands on the sidelines, she's my mascot," Craig smiled.

Sophie though just blinked, "I'm your mascot? Mascot?!"

"Well, not my mascot, it's a football match, I can't take a date."

"I didn't say I was your date."

"Neither did I."

"Cheerleader," Mac offered as an awkward silence descended, "Would have been a better word, I think."

"Ooh," the Doctor turned to Mac, "Will you be MY cheerleader?"

"Aren't I always?" she joked though they both knew that she hadn't always been, really only her first and current body had been fond of him, but that didn't seem to matter to the Doctor as he beamed widely at that, thinking of her there, cheering him on.

"Right then," he nodded, "Better get dressed," and headed into the bedroom.

"Oh, the spare kit's just in the bottom drawer," Craig called.

Mac shook her head and went after him, "Don't forget your pants," she called, about to step into the room when a thought hit her and she turned back to Sophie, "Did you pick the lock?"

"I'm sorry?" Sophie blinked.

"You got into the house, but Craig has your keys…so did you pick the lock or do you have a spare key?"

"I've got a spare," she nodded.

Mac smiled, "Two sets of keys to someone else's house…interesting," she nodded to herself, not realizing she'd absently grabbed the TARDIS key hanging around her neck, before leaving a few confused humans as she entered the room to see the Doctor struggling to get his team shirt on. She moved over to the bed and picked up Martha's mobile, calling Amy up, "Amy, wanted to warn you, we'll be out today. We can't stay in all the time or the man upstairs might get suspicious of why."

"What are you going to be doing?" Amy asked.

"Football!" the Doctor called, his voice muffled by the shirt as he pulled it over his head, "That's normal, yes?"

"Well done," Amy agreed, "That IS normal."

"Yeah, football, all outdoorsy. Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?"

"That's lacrosse Doctor," Mac corrected, "Or hockey, depending on what you're thinking of. Now, since you're dressed," she glanced at him as he pulled his pants up, just needing to put his shoes on, "Could you wait outside?"

"Why?" he frowned.

"I need to get dressed."

He stood there, tilting his head, "Yes. And?"

Mac blinked, "And that will require use of the room without another person in there."

"I got changed in front of you lot after I regenerated."

"And we turned our back."

"So can't I just turn my back then?"

Mac smiled, sensing this was more about not wanting to leave her alone than anything like that, "I actually just need someone to guard the door again," she smirked.

He blushed, "You…heard that did you?" he was supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen from when he'd made them all breakfast but he'd been standing guard instead.

She nodded and stepped over to him, "Thank you," she told him, leaning in to kiss his cheek, the Doctor turning his head just slightly so that her kiss landed at nearly the corner of his mouth, "It was a sweet gesture."

He smiled at her, "It was no bother," he nodded, "Right, I'll go keep guard then."

Mac shook her head as he stepped out of the room but she could see his shadow under the crack in the door, he certainly was keeping guard.

He was something else, wasn't he?

~8~

The Doctor was walking with his arm around Mac's shoulders, his tweed jacket over his uniform, with Craig and Sophie beside him as they headed through the park, "What are you actually called, what's your proper name?" Craig asked.

"Just call me the Doctor," he smiled.

"I can't say to these guys, 'Hey, this is my new flatmate, he's called the Doctor.'"

"Why not?"

"Cos it's weird."

"Probably no weirder than walking into a recording company and saying, 'Hey, these are my new clients, they're called the Beatles,'" Mac remarked.

"Alright, Craig," a black man in a blue team uniform greeted as they walked up to the rest of the men, "Soph. Alright, mate."

"Hello," the Doctor shook his hand, "I'm one of Craig's new flatmates," he gave the man a Gallic kiss, "I'm called the Doctor."

"Alright, Doctor. I'm Sean."

"And this is Kenzie," he added, turning to Mac, and then back to him, "But only I call her Kenzie, you can call her Mac," he turned back to her, "Everyone does," and to Sean once more, "Don't really understand why though."

"Mackenzie," Mac shook Sean's hand.

"Pleasure," he nodded and looked at the Doctor, "Ok, Doctor, so where are you strongest?"

"Arms," he answered.

"I think he means on the field Doctor," Mac patted his shoulder.

"Not sure. The front? The side? Below?"

"Are you any good though?" Sean started to get worried.

"Let's find out!" he grinned, spinning the ball on his finger before kicking it towards the field…only to run back a moment later, "Forgot something," he grinned sheepishly, taking off his coat and putting it on Mac's shoulders, "Bit chilly," he winked at her and rushed back to the field.

Mac just shook her head at him, he was always worrying about other people, though she didn't seem to notice Sophie's knowing smile beside her.

~8~

The game had been a rather good one, the Doctor dominated the field, making all sorts of amazing shots and stealing the ball and proving he had quite the talent for it. Most of the team got a bit upstaged though, but they were all just thrilled when they ended up winning the game. They were all in good spirits as they stood together around a bench, having some celebratory beers, "You are so on the team!" Sean cheered, patting the Doctor's back, "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"

"No violence!" the Doctor said, suddenly very serious, "Not while Kenzie or I are around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the oncoming storm..." he trailed off, seeing Mac making the 'stop talking' motion behind Sean, "And you meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Sean nodded slowly.

"Lovely, what sort of time?" he smiled.

But then Craig opened a can and it blasted all over him, soaking him in beer, making everyone laugh as Sophie tried to wipe him off…and did it again…and again…and again as a loop began to take over.

Mac quickly rushed over to the side, pulling out Martha's mobile," Amelia?" she called as soon as the other end picked up.

"It's happening again!" Amy screamed, "Worse!"

"What does the scanner say?" the Doctor asked.

"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"

"Yes, yes, it's...it's good!"

"No it's not," Mac gave him a look about lying to her, "Amy, listen, grab the…" she sighed, "Zigzag plotter and use it."

"Amy?" the Doctor called as there was no reprieve in the grinding noises and Amy screamed again, "Are you there?"

"Amelia are you alright?"

"…yes," Amy answered a moment later, "Hello."

"Ah, thank heavens," the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief at that, "We thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever."

"You mean that could actually happen!?"

"And THIS is why you ought to tell them what's going on right from the start!" Mac huffed at him.

"You have got to get me out of here."

"Amelia, what do the numbers read on the scanner now?"

"All fives."

"Fives?" the Doctor glanced over to see the loop had ended, "Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry. Hang on, ok? I've got some rewiring to do while Kenzie works on our scanner."

"We need to get it done tonight," Mac nodded as they turned and headed back to the team.

~8~

Mac was starting to think her one remark about the Doctor being like an overexcited puppy was true that night as she sat in the parlor with the Doctor, Sophie, and a rather sullen Craig. The man had come to their room earlier, requesting that they make themselves scarce in very subtle words…a bit too subtle for the Doctor it seemed as he'd popped up in the middle of a rather datey moment for them to ask where the on switch for the regular screwdriver was. She hadn't even realized he'd gone to bother them as she'd been working on their scanner. He'd been trying to reroute the power to the house so that it wouldn't reach the upstairs room and might give them more time and stop the loops from happening. He'd gone out to check the fuse box, or so he'd claimed, and the next thing she knew he was back saying they'd been invited to dinner.

It appeared Sophie had been the one to invite them as Craig seemed rather irritated they were there. The Doctor was sitting on the same chair as before, a mess of wires around his neck as he worked on them. Sophie and Craig were sitting on the larger sofa, Craig just staring at the ceiling in disappointment. Mac smiled sadly at him as she sat beside the Doctor on the arm of the chair, helping him work on the wires so he wouldn't electrocute himself.

"Cos life can seem pointless, you know?" Sophie was saying, "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same."

"Six billion people?" the Doctor muttered, "Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"If you don't like working in the call center," Mac picked up, saving the Doctor from his flub, "Why not go somewhere else? What would you LIKE to be doing Sophie?"

"Don't laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."

"So why not go?"

"She can't, you need loads of qualifications," Craig answered.

"Yeah, true," Sophie nodded, "Plus it's scary, everyone I know lives round here. Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it."

"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."

"Well, perhaps that's you, then," the Doctor shrugged, "Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?"

"You think I'd fail?"

"Well you're not Kenzie," the Doctor shrugged, "Everybody's got dreams, Sophie, very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" he took a sip of the wine that he'd been given…and spit it back into the glass, making a face.

"Every time," Mac sighed, reaching out to take the gals from him, moving to go clean it in the kitchen.

The Doctor watched her go a moment before looking back at Sophie, "Perhaps, in the whole universe, a call centre is where you should be?"

"Why are you saying that?" Sophie frowned, "That's horrible."

"Why not?" he shrugged, "I know the one place in the whole Universe I'm meant to be is with Kenzie over there. Well, not literally over there, the same room si fine with me for now, but what about you? Is it true? The Call Center?"

"Of course it's not true. I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want!" she blinked, seeing the Doctor smiling proudly, "Oh! Yeah! Right!" she laughed bumping her fist with his, pleased she'd been tricked and looked at Craig, "Oh, my God! Did you see what he just did?"

"No," Craig glanced at her, "What's happening? Are you going to live with monkeys now?"

"The Universe is a big place Sophie," Mac remarked as she headed over, "What matters is working out what's important to you and what keeps you going. What's keeping you here?"

"I don't know," Sophie shrugged, "Dunno."

The Doctor had to sigh at that, glancing from Sophie to Mac, maybe it was just a woman thing to not see when men liked them?

~8~

"It's beautiful," the Doctor smiled as he stood with Mac in front of her creation set up in their room. It was a rather unseemly device, quite gangly really, set up on the bed frame with bits and pieces of random objects attached to it.

"Thanks," Mac smiled, it wasn't often she got to build devices as big as this one. Mostly it was down to smaller objects, little things to help them out, but this was an entire scanner that she'd made, and she was rather proud of it. She loved making big objects, using as many little pieces as possible, but she didn't often have the time to create one what with the Doctor and all the situations he got them into. Having a few days to make this was wonderful. She hit a button and it began to spin a bit, the doctor ducking out of the way.

"Right," he nodded, "Shield's up. Let's scan!"

"Amy?" Mac held up the phone, "Anything with you?"

"No, not yet," Amy called, "What are you getting?"

"Upstairs," she eyed one of the digital clocks, reading the code the numbers were making, "There's no trace of higher tech."

"No no, no, no," the Doctor pouted, "It can't be! It's too normal."

"Only for you could too normal be a problem," Amy sighed, "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs."

"I'm not letting us up there without knowing," the Doctor argued, "Could get myself killed or worse get Kenzie killed and then you really are lost."

"If we were UNIT, I'd suggest recruiting a spy," Mac suggested, "Someone to sneak up there and peek around since we can't…"

"Excellent idea," he beamed at her, "For now, Amy, use the data bank, get us the plans of this building, its history, the layout, everything. Kenzie, you go get us a spy. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the scanner. If him upstairs creates another loop, maybe we'll get a better reading."

Mac nodded and stepped out of the room, knowing exactly the sort of spy they could use.

~8~

Mac smiled as she saw her spy coming down the stairs from the upper flat when she and the Doctor stepped into Craig's home the next day after returning from the call center, having filled in for the man while he was ill.

They'd had a bit of a scare that morning. The Doctor had made Craig breakfast but the man hadn't come down to eat it so he thought to bring it to him in bed. It was a kind gesture, she'd been in the halls, telling their spy what to do when she'd heard him shouting and running about and rushed into Craig's room to see the man looked like death had warmed over. He was lying in bed, sweaty, panting, hardly able to breathe or move with a dark vein in his arm. It was quite obvious to the both of them that Craig had ignored their warnings and touched the stain on the ceiling. But the Doctor, being a doctor, had known exactly what to do and had gotten him a pot full of tea…literally, crammed full of tea bags…to drink. Craig would be fine and, while she'd wanted to stay there and keep an eye on him, the Doctor had refused to leave her alone in that house without him.

So she'd gone with him to the call center, hoping that Craig would sleep till they got back. Seemed she'd misjudged that a Craig had run into the center earlier and had been frantic, thinking he'd be fired for missing work. But the Doctor had stepped in and handled all his calls and customers while she helped explain some of the programs on the system to him. She had quite a bit of experience with earth tech and other programs and, between the two of them, they either solved the issues the customers were having or ended up offending them…three guesses which of them was the offensive one.

Craig hadn't exactly been happy to see them there, even less so when he realized that his boss was fond of them, that Sophie was helping them, and that the Doctor had presented a business plan, even if it was on his behalf and with full credit to him. She'd ordered him back to the house to sleep and eat, having felt his forehead for a fever and checked his pupils and made a big fuss that had a few of the staff chuckling and the Doctor smiling at her softly and remarking on her mother hen ways coming up again. She'd just shrugged and said, compared to them, all the humans were like children that needed mothering.

"Hello lovely," she smiled at the cat that was climbing down the stairs, "Have you gotten a peek up there?" it meowed and she moved to sit on the steps, the Doctor beside her with the cat between them, "Good," she nodded, "Can you show us what's up there? Hmm? Try it," it meowed again.

"Oh," the Doctor frowned, "That doesn't make sense! Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good good. What kind of people? People who never come back down. That's very bad…"

"Hello Craig," Mac looked up from petting the cat to see Craig step into the foyer.

But Craig just shook his head, "I can't take this anymore. I want you both to go!" he turned and strode back into the flat, the Doctor rushed after him, Mac joining him as Craig grabbed the paper bag of rent and shoved it back to the Doctor, "You can have this back an' all."

"What have we done?" the Doctor frowned.

"For a start, talking to a cat."

"I know loads of people who do," Mac countered as the Doctor tossed the bag over his shoulder.

"Everybody loves you," he poked the Doctor in the chest, Mac frowning as she looked over her shoulder, swearing she could hear someone talking in the foyer, "You're better at football than me, and my job, and now Sophie's all 'Oh, monkeys, monkeys!' and then..." Craig strode over to the room the Time Lords had been sharing and threw it open, the Doctor rushing inside, "There's that!"

Mac glanced over at the two men before stepping back out into the hall…noticing two things. The first was that the pink key ring was in the door she'd just opened when it shouldn't be…and the second was that the door to the upper flat had just shut.

"Sophie!" Mac shouted, before bolting up the stairs and into the flat, luckily the door hadn't locked yet and she burst into the room. She stopped for only a moment, seeing that it looked like a rather advanced spaceship, like a platform in the middle of the room with small control panels set up around it, an orb of some kind set in the middle of each panel. This was…not what she was expecting, if she had to guess, she would have thought someone was trying to make a TARDIS or something. But it did answer some questions, the time engine they were looking at…it appeared separate from the actual flat, likely a perception filter making it seem like a second level…which meant the TARDIS wouldn't have an information or layout plans for it.

"I don't understand…" Sophie was saying to what Mac recognized as a hologram of a little girl.

"You will help me," it stated.

"Sophie get back!" Mac ran forward, stepping in front of Sophie a second before white tendrils of energy shot out from one of the control panels and wrapped around he, pulling her towards it, "No!" she shouted, straining to pull back, to keep herself from touching the orb.

'_THETA!_' she screamed in her head and, seconds later, she could hear the Doctor stomping up the stairs, pounding on the door to try and get in. She grit her teeth, grabbing her wrist to try and pull back, seeing Sophie at the door, trying to help the others in. She could see a dried up skeleton in the corner of the room and she knew that it would be MUCH worse if she touched the orb than if a human did.

"Kenzie!" the Doctor shouted as he made his way into the room rushing to her side and trying to sonic the panel, "It's controlling you," he told her, "It's willing you to touch the activator."  
"Is it?" she countered sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed! Shut it down!"

"I can't, it's deadlocked!"

"You will help me," the hologram spoke behind them.

The Doctor looked back at it, "Right! Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue. Please state the nature of your emergency.

"The ship has crashed. The crew are dead. A pilot is required."

"It's the…emergency crash program," Mac grunted, putting her one foot on the panel to try and push herself back.

"You've been luring people up here so you can try them out," the Doctor frowned, sonicing the hologram, turning it from the little girl to a young man and then an old man.

"You will help me," it stated, "You will help me, you will help me.'

"Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn. You're stupid, aren't you? You just keep trying!"

"Could Mac do it though?" Craig looked at him, "Could she fly it?"

"Not a Time Lord," Mac yelled, "If the Doctor or I…touch a control…the solar system explodes!"

"You've got to do something!" Craig shouted.

"What's going on?" Sophie backed away, frightened…only to stumble, her hand landing on one of the orbs in the second panel.

The energy let Mac go but Sophie screamed as the orb beneath her hand lit up.

"Sophie!" Craig cried as Mac collapsed into the Doctor's arms, the man running to Sophie's side, "Sophie! Doctor we need to stop it, it's killing her!"

The Doctor thought frantically for a moment, "It doesn't want everyone. Craig, it didn't want you!"

"I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him!"

"It didn't want Sophie before but now it does. What's changed?"

"The monkeys," Mac groaned in pain, trying to sit up but her entire body felt like lead.

"I gave her the idea of leaving!" he realized, "It's a machine that needs to leave, it wants people who want to escape! And you don't want to leave, Craig, you're Mr. Sofa Man! Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay!"

Craig didn't even hesitate, didn't even ask if it would work, he didn't care, not when Sophie's life was on the line. And so, he slapped his hand down on the panel beside Sophie's, releasing her and shouting out in pain as the energy targeted him now.

"Go," Mac swallowed, shifting away from the Doctor, "Help him."

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her hair, before he leapt to his feet and ran over to Craig, "Craig, what's keeping you here? Think about everything that makes you want to stay here! Why don't you want to leave?" he slapped Craig across the face to help him focus.

"Sophie!" he shouted, "And I don't want to leave Sophie! I can't leave Sophie! I love Sophie!"

Sophie let out a breath at that, "I love you, too, Craig, you idiot!" and slapped her hand down on the control again, this time wanting to stay, this time, making the controls and the ship start to smoke and spark.

Craig looked at Sophie, stunned, "Honestly, do you mean that?"

"Of course I mean it! Do you mean it?"

"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"But what about the monkeys?"

"Oh, not now, not again!" the Doctor huffed, moving to help Mac up, "Craig, the planet's about to burn! For God's sake, kiss the girl!"

Craig turned and kissed Sophie, the two of their hands sliding off the panel as it began to smoke and spark, the ship shaking.

Mac pulled out the mobile from the Doctor's hand, the man having forgotten it was there as he'd hung up on Amy, and called the girl back, "Amelia?" she asked, "How's the TARDIS?"

"Whatever it is you did…it worked!" Amy cheered, "Now the screen's just zeros! Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes...big yes!"

"Help me," the hologram called, starting to short circuit through its different images, "Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Big no," the Doctor swallowed.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Did we switch it off?" Craig looked over, breaking his kiss with Sophie.

"Emergency shutdown," Mac shook her head, "It's about to implode."

"Everybody out, out, out!" the Doctor turned, scooping Mac into his arms and ushering the humans out, the three of them running through the house as it shook and out onto the street. They raced across it, turning to look at the house as the perception filter flickered, revealing the ship before it blinked out of existence. No one walking by even seemed to realize it.

"Look at them," Craig murmured, "Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished!"

"Perception filter," the Doctor spoke quietly, looking at Mac as she slept in his arms, "There never was a top floor."

"Come on," Sophie whispered, "We'd best get her inside to rest," she nodded to the house, leading the boys back.

~8~

Mac laughed and swatted the sonic away as the Doctor tried to scan her a short while later after she'd woken from her brief nap, her closing the phone with Amy, the TARDIS having materialized in the park and stayed there this time. He wanted to make sure she was ok, she knew, but that device was really annoying at times, "I'm FINE Doctor," she insisted, "I just needed a bit of sleep but I'm perfectly fine now."

"I know," he sighed, "Just wanted to be sure."

"Well now you're sure and we need to go," she reminded him, "I think Amy will feel more comfortable with the two of us in the TARDIS with her again.

"Yes, yes," he nodded, holding out a hand to help her up off the bed, they'd reconstructed it for Craig, and turned to lead her out. They stopped by the parlor to see Craig and Sophie sharing a rather intimate moment on the sofa and quietly made their way towards the door, the Doctor leaving the keys in the bowl on the way.

"Oi!" they heard Craig shout behind them and turned to see the man walking over with Sophie.

"What, you're trying to sneak off?" Sophie smiled.

"Yes, well, you were sort of... busy," the Doctor shrugged.

"Did you want your own little snog in the shrubbery then?" she teased.

"No, no, nothing like that," Mac laughed as the Doctor started to sputter and blush and look at Mac quickly, "Our friend Amy's been trapped in our own ship, it kept getting knocked about by the other ship. I think she'd want us back quickly."

Craig nodded and turned to the bowl, taking out the keys and handing them back to the Doctor, "I want you to keep these. Thank you."

"Thank you," the Doctor smiled and took the keys, "Cos we might pop back soon, have another little stay."

"No, you won't. I've been in your head, remember?"

Mac shook her head at that, the Doctor had told her how he'd used a rather crude method of information exchange with Craig, had head butted him to deposit memories and thoughts into the man's head, just to get him to believe they were trying to help and that aliens were involved. Still, he'd fund a few nice memories of Sophie that had helped him get through to Craig later. He'd flushed a bit when she'd asked if Craig learned anything about her in the process as it was sometimes tricky to deposit just the information you wanted to.

"But I still want you to keep them."

"Thank you, Craig," the Doctor smiled.

"Thank you, Doctor," he nodded, "And thank you Mac, the both of you."

"Sophie," Mac turned and gave her a hug, "You take care of that one," she nodded to Craig, "And just remember, no two people out of all 6 billion have had the experience you two have."

"Yeah," Sophie nodded, taking Craig's hand.

The Time Lords smiled and gave a small wave before stepping out of the house…only to see that the TARDIS had apparently been a bit eager as it appeared right at the end of the small walkway to the street from Craig's house, waiting for them.

"Hello dear," the Doctor patted the corner of the box as Mac used her key to get them in, "Now," he clapped his hands as he and Mac got the TARDIS into the Vortex, Mac giving Amy a tight hug and checking her over to make sure she was ok, "Back in time! You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for us Pond."

Amy rolled her eyes at that, "Right little matchmaker, aren't you? Can't you find me a fella?"

The Doctor was silent, listening to the console with his stethoscope, "Oh, rectifier's playing up again...hold on, Kenzie?" he looked at her, taking off his jacket to drape it on the jump seat, "Little help?"

She nodded, "Amy can you write the note while we check on the will?"

Amy shrugged, "You got a pen?"

Mac pulled one out of her pocket and handed it to her.

"No, no," the Doctor called, "Has to be a red pen."

Amy shook her head but moved to the Doctor's jacket, searching the pockets for a pen…only to pull out an engagement ring box as the Time Lords disappeared beneath the console.

"Isn't it a little odd?" Mac mused as she and the Doctor worked on getting the rectifier going.

"What?" the Doctor glanced at her.

She smiled, "The ship targeted me, even when you were in the room too," she glanced at him, "It thought I wanted to leave more than you did."

"Well, you did," he shrugged, "You wanted to get out there and back to the TARDIS to make sure Amy was alright."

"And you didn't?" she raised an eyebrow at that.

"I did," he nodded, "I just…I was content, where we were," he glanced at her, "I…wherever you are, Kenzie, that's where I want to be. You were there, in that room, so I didn't want to leave as much."

She smiled at that, "I…don't want to leave you either."

He looked at her as she got back to work, focusing on the rectifier, and beamed, maybe his wooing was working after all.

A/N: Late again, I know :( Sorry, I tried to get this chapter and Merlin edited yesterday but only managed Merlin's :( I did this one as soon as I could but I'm feeling just a little better so I hope I'll be able to get everything edited for tomorrow at the normal time from here on out :)

Some notes on reviews...

Mac doesn't have a real opinion on the earlier Doctors, mostly because it's all based on what she's read or been told and most of that was during a time he wasn't a big fan of him so she's a bit biased. I think she treats them as the past and tries to hold an opinion only on the ones she's met and dealt with :) So far the only sort of tradition for my dad/his side of the family, is a heart attack when I'm 57 (literally 3 people in his immediate family all had one at that age and passed on), and (more for my brother than me) being 'too nice a guy' and not telling women who literally stalk you to leave you alone because it's ruining your marraige...mostly, it's infidelity in that area :(

Lol, I actually haven't seen the entire Captain America movie. I've seen from when he's in the chamber getting muscles and chases the car...then the next thing I see from is when he's going on the rescue mission for Bucky up to when he gets caught by the enemy and that's actually it lol. I haven't seen the beginning or end of the movie. And that stinks because it was on pretty much all weekend and I kept missing it lol :)

Amy will be a bit more complimenty to Rory and more touchy feely with him than before. But I don't think Rory would insist on a scan, Amy said she thought she was pregnant (which I inferred was her thinking that the sickness the Silence made people feel was morning sickness but, learning others felt it too, realized it wasn't) but wasn't, which Rory might take to mean she ran a test herself :) I can say there'll be a little more to Asylum than before and...it will also depend on if Amy and Rory are even trying for a baby in this story...knowing Mac can't have children might make Amy and Rory hold off on their own attempts. I'm not saying that's what'll happen (since you can have a baby without actively trying for one), just playing Devil's Advocate ;)


	13. The Pandorica Opens

The Pandorica Opens

Mac glanced over, through the floor of the TARDIS at Amy as she sat there on the Doctor's hanging harness, Rory's engagement ring in her hand. She'd seen the girl with it a few times now, guessed she might have found it when she'd been looking for a red pen to leave the note for Craig, but she hadn't said anything about it to Amy or the Doctor. She wanted to see what Amy would do with it, if she'd keep it, if she'd remember something of it, if there was anything that the ginger girl could do that would help keep Rory's memory alive. She felt so badly for what happened to him. SHE had been the one trying to get Amy and Rory into the TARDIS but she'd failed. Rory had run out of her grasp and gotten hurt and she kept thinking it was her fault it happened. She tried to keep the companions safer, volunteering to stay with them, mostly because she knew how it broke the Doctor's hearts when they were hurt, but…it hurt her too. Losing Rory had hit her hard as she felt like he was someone she could talk to and relate to. The Doctor, as amazing as he was, wasn't exactly used to being in the shadows, being second best, being overlooked by the person you loved…or at least thought to be over looked. She and Rory were rather alike, both fretters, though she was a little more sarcastic where Rory was quiet.

"Vavoom!" she looked over, hearing the Doctor give a shout to see he'd dropped down on his stomach to look at Amy upside down under the console floor.

"Va-what?" Amy frowned, slowly trying to hide the ring box behind her in the process.

The Doctor just grinned and got up, rushing around the console and flicking switches, pulling levers, Mac shaking her head as she moved to join him, Amy slowly coming up the steps to see what he was doing, "I can't believe I've never thought of this before, it's genius. Right!" he pulled a lever, setting the TARDIS down, "Landed, come on!" he grabbed Mac's hand and rushed for the doors.

"Where are we?" Amy asked Mac, having seen her at the monitor, likely running an environment scan.

"It's classified as Planet One," Mac told her, "According to record, it's the oldest planet in the universe."

"Oh there's a cliff of pure diamond," the Doctor continued, "And, according to legend, on the cliff there's writing, letters 50 feet high, a message from the dawn of time, and no one knows what it says, cos no one's ever translated it," he spun around to Mac, grinning widely, "Till today. Eh, what do you think?"

"What happens today?" Amy shook her head.

"The TARDIS translation circuits," Mac realized before smiling, "I think that is genius Doctor."

He twirled around, thrumming with excitement at that, to know that Mac was excited to learn what was on the other side of those doors, to know that they were going to decode the first language in the universe…

Until they stepped outside, onto a lush, jungle-like area with large mushrooms growing around them, and saw that it wasn't actually an ancient, forgotten language…but Gallifreyan.

"What does it say?" Amy frowned, still unable to read the words which made the Time Lords glance at her.

"What did the Home Box say?" Mac answered with a question of her own.

"Hello Sweetie," Amy recalled, before laughing at the Doctor's putout face and pouting expression, "Vavoom!"

Mac just smiled and took the Doctor's hand, pulling him back inside.

~8~

Amy squinted as they stepped out of the TARDIS in their newest location, some sort of hill overlooking a large Roman encampment. It was slightly chilly out, though warm in the sunlight and had a rather ancient sort of feel to it, "Right place?"

"There were coordinates at the bottom of River's message," Mac nodded, "Just slipped them into the TARDIS controls. Puts us at earth, Britain, in 102AD."

"That's a Roman Legion," Amy breathed, staring at the encampment.

"Well, yeah," the Doctor nodded, "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."

"Oh, I know," Amy started to smile and nod, looking at the men walking about in their uniforms, "My favorite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians."

"Tell me that wasn't your actual title," Mac glanced at her.

Amy shrugged, "I did get marked down for that yeah."

They looked over when they heard someone rushing up to them to see one of the Roman soldiers was panting and huffing, racing towards them, before nearly falling to his knees as he saluted them with a fist to his chest, "Hail, Caesar!" he knelt down, "And the most beloved Servilia!"

Mac blinked and looked at him, "I'm not sure whether he's calling me a mistress or a respected woman…" she remarked.

"I'd go with the second one," the Doctor whispered, "Though the first is true…"

"I was NEVER your mistress," she hissed at him.

"No, no, I…I didn't mean like that…no, never like that," he amended quickly, having forgotten for a moment about her husband, "I mean…Servilia, to Caesar, was a woman he loved through his whole life but could never officially be with…that's you, to me," he smiled softly at her, "I like to think of her as Caesar's unofficial wife."

"An unofficial wife is no wife at all," Mac countered, crossing her arms, missing the entirety of what he'd said as she hung up on the word 'mistress.'

The Doctor sighed, he should have known better than to make a remark like that, mistress was the absolute WORST word that could have been used in relation to Mac given what her husband had done. Well that had been a flub and a half, one of the sweetest things he could have said to her, ruined by that foul word.

"Welcome to Britain," the soldier called, his head still bowed in reverence, "We are honored by your presence."

"Well, you're only human," the Doctor sighed, "Arise... Roman person."

Amy leaned over to whisper to them, "Why does he think you're Caesar and Servilia?" she inquired, knowing ALL about the history of Caesar, she hadn't been lying when she'd said that era was her favorite.

The answer became all too clear to the Time Lords when the man stood and revealed that he had a smudge of lipstick across his cheek, something they could guess what it might be for no Roman soldier would be walking around with that on his face, nor would it even really exist in that shade, and there would be only one person who would use a lipstick like that, "Cleopatra will see you now," he turned to lead them off, taking them through the twisting and turning paths of the tents set up by the soldiers, till they reached a rather large one.

The trio stepped inside to see River Song reclining on a plush chair, dressed as Cleopatra and being waited on by two servants, "Hello, sweetie," River smiled at them, beaming was more like it. It was almost like she was thrilled they'd showed up, like she was just happy they came.

It made Mac wonder if there was ever a time they didn't and that was why she was so happy now, or if it was just that River liked knowing she could rely on them to come and help her. She got the feeling that River was the sort to not ask for help much but when she DID, it meant it was truly important. She was much the same like that. It came from taking care of her siblings, she liked to think she could handle anything and, if she got overwhelmed, it meant the situation was really more than she could handle. Not that it often happened, and even when it wasn't overwhelming, the Doctor always offered his help no matter what.

"River!" Amy smiled, "Hi."

"You DO know Amy yes?" Mac asked, being careful. The last River they'd seen could have been in the future and this one might not know Amy yet.

"I do," she nodded, getting up to go hug both her and Amy.

"You graffitied the oldest cliff-face in the universe," the Doctor wagged a warning finger at her.

River rolled her eyes, "You sound like my father," she muttered, "And anyway, I wouldn't have had to if you'd have answered your phone," she turned and clapped her hands, signaling the servants away and moved over to her bag, taking out a rolled up canvas.

"What's this?" the Doctor asked as she handed it to him.

"It's a painting," she remarked, "Your friend Vincent," she watched carefully as the Doctor took the painting and started to unroll it, "One of his final works. He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."

Amy frowned when she saw the Doctor freeze, saw a frown start to form on Mac's face as she joined him, looking over his arm at the painting, "What's wrong Mac?" but Mac was silent, so she turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, what is it?" the Doctor just set the painting on the table, revealing it was the TARDIS exploding, painted in the famed style of Van Gogh, "Why's it exploding?"

"I assume it's some kind of warning," River sighed, the Doctor falling down onto a chair heavily, thinking deeply as Mac lightly traced a finger down the painting, tracing the paint strokes but also the writing on it.

"Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?"

"It might not be that literal."

"Or it might be," Mac murmured, "See here, on the instruction panel…he's replaced the message with a date and map reference…for here and now."

"Does it have a title?" the Doctor looked up.

"The Pandorica Opens," River answered.

"Wonderful," Mac mumbled, rubbing her head, but…it couldn't be the actual Pandorica could it?

"The Pandorica?" Amy frowned, "What is it?"

"A box," River shrugged, "A cage. A prison. It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe."

"And it's a fairy tale, a legend," the Doctor stressed, "It can't be real."

Mac let out a long sigh, "Well we can't risk thinking it's not. IF it's real, then according to Vincent it's about to open and when it does…I dunno something about it is going to affect the TARDIS, so we have to stop it."

The Doctor nodded, seeing the logic in her words, and turned to a pile of maps in a vase, pulling them out and starting to spread them out on the table with the painting.

"Doctor it's probably hidden," River reminded him, moving beside Mac to link her arm through the woman's, "Or buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map."

"No," he agreed, "But if you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe, you'd want to remember where you put it."

"Actually…" Mac remarked, "We may not even need those…" the Doctor looked at her, "What's the only thing in the area that's given off such an odd force that even those ridiculous divining rods have picked up something?" she gave him a pointed look.

The Doctor blinked and smiled, "You are brilliant!" before grabbing her hand and pulling her out, stopping to turn to face her quickly, adding, "Just divine," with a playful wink, before rushing out again, Amy and River moving to follow.

~8~

Stonehenge, one of the greatest mysteries of the world. Was it an altar? Was it a giant clock? Was it a tomb monument? There were so many questions and so little answers but it seemed they were about to find out one of them. They rode their horses up to the site, being careful with them as they'd nicked four of the ones that belonged to the younger soldiers, the ones who had a horse but had no idea what it was like to ride into battle on one as there were no wars going on just yet.

The Doctor hopped off his horse, turning to help Mac off hers even though River and Amy were well aware she needed no help, before he ran off, starting to sonic the rocks on the ground as Mac pulled out a simple pair of divining rods. Both women thought they were rubbish and a waste but perhaps in the hands of an alien, the might pick up more of…whatever it was they were looking for.

"How come it's not new?" Amy looked up at one of the stones as River scanned around.

Mac shrugged, "Stonehenge is an old structure Amy, it's been here nearly 3,000 years already."

"Ok," Amy nodded, turning to River, "This Pandorica thing. Last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium."

"Spoilers," both Mac and River called, though River put her finger on her lips as well, smiling when she heard Mac call out the same word.

"No, but you told the Doctor and Mac you'd see them again when the Pandorica opens."

This time River shrugged, "Maybe I did. But I haven't yet. But I will have. Doctor, Mackenzie, I'm picking up fry particles everywhere," she added as her scanner beeped in her hands, Mac moving over to look at the readings with her, "Energy weapons discharged on this site."

"If the Pandorica is here," the Doctor stood on a large rock right in the middle, "It contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that. Maybe even fight over it."

Mac stepped over to him, the divining rods crossing right above the stone he was standing on, "And we've just found the entrance."

The Doctor smiled and hopped off the rock, putting his ear to the rock, "We need to get down there."

"Ok," Mac nodded, "Lever or pulley system?" she asked him.

"Actually, I may have an easier way," River called, smirking.

~8~

It had taken a few hours for River to get everything set up, a ring of standing lights around the stones to help them as night had fallen quickly. But they had to agree, River's method was far quicker, when actually in place, than it would have been to use a lever or pulley system as Mac had suggested. She'd merely placed a device on the rock in question and pushed a button on her scanner and the rock slid to the side, opening a space that revealed a set of stone steps leading into the dark.

Mac pulled out her penlight and lighter as they headed down, the Doctor with his sonic out to act as a light, while River pulled a penlight from her pocket as well.

"The underhenge," the Doctor breathed as they slowly headed down the narrow passage and into an underground cavern.

"Look there," Mac pointed her penlight on a torch in the wall and walked over to it, lighting it with her lighter and turning, seeing that River had also grabbed a torch on the opposite wall and brought it over to light hers as well, giving them more light to see that there was a door ahead of them with a large board across it, locking it. The Doctor stepped over to it, pushing the board up and off the handles, grinning at them before shoving the doors open…

And there it was, the Pandorica, a large cube standing in the back of the room with intricate green, glowing circular patterns on it.

"I don't believe it," Mac breathed.

"It's the Pandorica," the Doctor nodded.

"More than just a fairy tale," River smirked.

The Doctor and Mac slowly moved towards it, Mac placing her torch into a sconce in the wall near the box and holding her penlight up to the circular patterns, getting a closer look at the details.

"There was a goblin," the Doctor murmured, placing his hand on it, looking up at the sheer size of it, "Or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

Mac looked over at him, uneasily, not from how he was describing the thing that was likely in the box, oh she was sure there were worse things out there but…it was just…the way he'd said it, it reminded her of how she'd used to think of him, before she'd learned the truth and released her anger. It was almost like he was describing himself in a way, or how his enemies or the peoples of the less fortunate worlds might see him.

"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked.

"The same way fairytales always go," Mac shrugged, "A good wizard probably tricked it."

"I hate good wizards in fairy tales," River muttered as she handed Amy her torch to pull out her scanner, the Doctor moving around the box to look at it from all sides, "They always turn out to be him. Like the good witches are Mackenzie."

"Me?" Mac laughed a bit, "A good witch?"

River smiled at her, "Like Glinda, helps people find their way. Especially the good wizards," she rolled her eyes, "Lord knows they could get lost trying to navigate through a paper bag."

Mac laughed even more at that, at how true that probably was.

"So it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then?" Amy reasoned, "Almost the same name."

Mac nodded, "Except it's not hope in this box."

"That was my favorite book when I was a kid," Amy mused…making the three of them stop and look at her, "What's wrong?"

"It's a bit odd," Mac remarked, "The Romans are your favorite topic, the Pandorica your favorite story?"

"Never ignore a coincidence," the Doctor agreed, before looking at the Pandorica, "Unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence."

"Ignore him Amy," Mac told her.

"So can you open it?" River walked over to the Pandorica, scanning it with the Doctor beside her.

"Easily. Anyone can break INTO a prison, but I'd rather know what I'm going to find first. I'd not like to face the thing inside and have it go after Kenzie…I mean, you lot," he flushed a bit, making River smirk.

"You'll have to hurry and work it out then," River murmured, seeing her scanner's readings, "It's already opening."

"What?" Mac joined them again.

River nodded, holding up her scanner, "There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."

"How long before it opens completely?"

"Hours at the most."

"What kind of security?" the Doctor turned to them.

"Everything. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines."

"What could need all that?" he frowned, "I mean I can understand if it was protecting something," he'd probably put all that in place if it was someone like Mac in there and he had to protect others getting in…but getting out?

"What could get past all that?" River countered.

"Think of the fear that went into making this could inspire that level of fear?"

"Daleks," Mac remarked, "Or spiders," the two turned to her and she shrugged, "Spiders are evil," she tugged her cardigan closer, being underground, knowing there were cobwebs around and likely spiders…it was putting her on edge.

The Doctor chuckled at that, "Don't worry," he reached out and took her hand, "I'll protect you from them."

River smiled, seeing the Doctor grinning at Mac but had to ask, "Why would it start to open now though?"

"No idea," the Doctor sighed.

"There's nothing very special about 102AD," Mac agreed.

"How could Vincent have known about it?" Amy brought up, "He won't even be born for centuries."

"He shouldn't have," Mac nodded, "Unless…" she looked at the Doctor, "What if it's like the 456?" she asked him, "They were aliens using the children to communicate, they were transmitting on a wavelength and using the children as receivers…what if Vincent was something like that, a receiver."

"Then the stones would be…" the Doctor's eyes widened and he quickly ran to one, flashing it with the sonic, "They are! These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening!"

River stiffened at that, "Doctor...everyone, everywhere?"

"And Vincent heard it," Mac nodded sadly, "But how? What could possibly be trapped in there that would require all of this precaution?"

"Mackenzie, please," River looked from her to the Doctor, "Everyone?"

But the Doctor was looking at Mac, ignoring River, "Anything that powerful, we'd know about it. Why don't we know?"

"It's like with the Angels," Mac nodded, "And Zero, they all knew but we didn't…"

"_Quiet!_" River shouted…stunning the Time Lords into silence, not from how she'd snapped at them…but HOW she'd done it. She'd just spoken in Gallifreyan. It shouldn't have been a shock to them, if the woman could read and write in it, she had to know to speak it as well. She'd proven she could write in Old High Gallifreyan already, which was more like Latin and not spoken much, but the cliff face had been in the common tongue for Gallifrey, they should have expected it…but it still startled them to hear someone else speak a language only THEY had known. River swallowed, as though realizing what she'd done, and reverted to English, "You said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?"

"Oh," the Doctor breathed as Mac stiffened beside him, that…was much worse then spiders.

"Oh?" Amy frowned, "Oh, what?"

"River can you fold back the signal?" Mac looked at her.

"Already on it," River nodded from one of the stones where she was pressing her scanner against it, "Doctor?"

"Doing it," the Doctor agreed, flashing the stones with the sonic to activate the broadcast more.

"Doing what?" Amy shook her head.

"If the stones have been transmitting," Mac explained to her, moving to put her hand on Amy's arm, "Then more people than just Vincent heard it…we have no idea who might be out there right now, having come to investigate."

"Ok," the Doctor called, "Should be feeding back to you now. River, what's out there? Getting anything?"

"Give me a mo…" River murmured.

"River, quickly, anything?"

River stared at her scanner in horror.

"River?" Mac moved closer to her, touching her arm.

River swallowed, "Around this planet, there are at least 10,000 starships."

"At least?" Amy blinked.

"10,000, 100,000, 1 million, I don't know," she shook her head, "There's too many readings."

Mac let out a breath at that, "Can you see what types of ships at least?"

River closed her eyes and pushed a button, allowing one of the signals to come through, and a Dalek started to speak, "Maintaining orbit."

"I obey," a second replied, "Shield cover compromised on ion sectors."

"Daleks," Amy murmured, "Those are Daleks."

"Scan detects no temporal activity."

"Soft grid scan commencing."

"Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilization."

"Daleks," River turned to the Time Lords, "There are Daleks."

"Launch preliminary armaments protocol."

The Doctor started to blink rapidly, "Yes, ok. Ok, ok, ok. Dalek fleet," he nodded, looking at Mac, "Minimum, 12,000 battleships, armed to the teeth. But we've got surprise on our side! They'll never expect four people to attack 12,000 Dalek battleships!"

"Doctor," Mac rubbed her head as he stood there grinning at his plan, "Stop using your mouth and start using your brain. What happens when four people attack even ONE Dalek ship?"

"They'd be killed instantly," he answered, before wincing, "So it would be a fairly short surprise. Yes. Right. Forget surprise."

"We've got Cyberships," River called.

"No, _Dalek_ ships, listen to them, those are Dalek ships."

"Don't tell me there's both," Mac looked at River who nodded solemnly.

"Well, we just need to start a fight," the Doctor reasoned, "Turn them on each other. It's the Daleks...they're SO cross..."

River closed her eyes, hating to add, "Sontaran. Four battle-fleets."

"Sontarans!" the Doctor nodded, trying not to start getting worried, "Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?"

But Mac could see it on River's face, the gravity of the situation, "That's not all…is there?"

"No," River swallowed, "Terileptil," she read off the scanner, "Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene. Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here," she looked up at the Doctor, seeing him backing away at the sheer amount of his enemies that were now surrounding them all, "For the Pandorica."

The Doctor stopped as he ran into the box and looked up at it, "What are you?"

"Better question," Mac winced as the ground began to shake, "What is THAT?" before she turned and ran out of the room, the rest of them after her as they ran up to the top of the underhenge, onto the grass to see the sky was full of the lights of thousands of different ships.

"What do we do?" Amy looked to the Time Lords.

"Doctor, Mac, please, listen to me!" River turned to them, "Everything that ever hated either of you are coming here tonight. You _can't_ win this. You can't even fight it. Please…this once, just this one time, please, you have to run."

"And where would you like us to run River?" Mac shook her head.  
"Well you can't fight them!"

"Yes," the Doctor countered, pulling out his binoculars and looking back the way they'd come, towards the encampment, "With the greatest military machine in the history of the universe!"

"What, the Daleks?" Amy frowned.

"No, no, no," he grinned, "The Romans!"

~8~

River was smiling a bit to herself as she rode back to the encampment despite the fact she was NOT looking forwards to confronting the Romans again. By now her lipstick would have worn off and she really would rather not have to kiss the entire camp again. It had been torture to do it the first time. She wasn't a kissogram, a bit of a flirt yes, but she didn't love the idea of kissing an entire legion of men. No, what she was smiling about was that Mac had joined her on this endeavor.

There were quite a few times where the Doctor took command or where she got to work beside him, but it wasn't often she got to spend time with just Mac. She loved the moments when she did though, they were her most treasured memories. The Doctor tended to blot things out at times, other people especially, even when Mac was there for all his compliments and focus on her even she fell to the shadows at times. So being there, just the two of the was amazing.

They got off their horses and headed for the main tent once more, River to reluctantly get her lipstick thinking she might be able to get away with just having to kiss the top men in charge to command the troops…but their path was blocked by two guards who turned to escort them in instead.

It was then that she saw that the commander of the encampment had returned, "So, I return to my command after one week and discover we've been playing host to Cleopatra. Who's in Egypt. And dead!"

"Yes, why Cleo?" Mac had to whisper to River, curious about that. She knew Cleopatra's relationship to Caesar, and given that the soldier had called HER Servilia there was really only one Caesar he could be referencing. But River really didn't strike her as the sort to be Cleopatra in relation to the Doctor being Julius Caesar, she grimaced off implications of being something like THAT to the Doctor enough times for her to feel like River was NOT romantically interested in the Doctor at all.

River shrugged, "Most beautiful women in Egypt," she offered, "Got a bit of vanity in my I suppose."

Mac blinked, ok, she wasn't expecting that reason, but it was fine with her. Many children, she knew, liked being Cleopatra for Halloween, it was probably just something like that.

"Funny how things work out," River smirked at the Commander…when the ground shook from the ships above.

"The sky is falling, and you make jokes. Who are you?"

"The same thing that your foreign enemies think you are," Mac remarked wisely.

"Where do they think you come from?" River eyed him.

"A place more deadly and more powerful and more impatient than their tiny minds can imagine," the man glared, pulling his sword.

Mac quickly moved in front of River, lifting something to her mouth and blowing, making the commander drop his sword and stumble back, a…small piece of wood stuck in his hand.

River blinked, "Did you just attack him with a toothpick?" she whispered to Mac.

Mac smiled, holding up a hollowed out pen, "And a pen, yeah."

River laughed at that, "I love you."

Mac winked and turned back to the commander, "This world has been invaded," she told him, "And your men may be the only thing standing in the way of complete conquer."

"Sir?" a soldier called from the shadows, Mac frowning as she tried to see the man speaking to the commander as he stepped over to him, the soldier's voice was very familiar…

"Well," the man turned back, "It seems you have a volunteer," he gestured the man forward and Mac's eyes widened as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Rory?!"

~8~

Mac had no idea what was going on. And she hated when that happened. Rory was back, Rory Williams, Amy's Rory, the Rory who had never been born! And she didn't understand how. Some might say it was a miracle, but she'd learned a long time ago never to hope for them and never to expect them because they didn't exist. Whatever it was that had brought Rory back, it wasn't anything good. Especially considering Rory himself had no idea what had happened or how he got there. One minute he's on the floor of a cavern…and the next he was walking around a Roman camp thinking he was a soldier. If it hadn't been for the men talking about the ginger women, Rory probably wouldn't have remembered anything about them at all.

It was very disconcerting.

What was worse was that Rory had rushed off the moment she'd explained that the Doctor and Amy were back at Stonehenge while she and River were meant to be there, recruiting. He'd gone off at the head of his small legion before she could stop him. She couldn't fault him, he was excited to see Amy again, but she hadn't gotten a chance to warn him about Amy and how he'd not been born and she didn't know him. She'd wanted to go after him, but River needed help convincing a few more men so she'd had to stay behind and go after the last man had left.

The two of them were sitting on horses, facing Stonehenge, looking at the ships flying above as the Romans began to organize their troops, Rory somewhere below in the underhenge from what they could see.

River pulled out her comm. and called the Doctor up on her scanner that she'd left in there, "You're surrounded. Have you got a plan?"

"Yes!" he called back, "Now hurry up and get the TARDIS here. I need equipment! And Kenzie," he added, "I could use your help in here."

Mac sighed and rolled her eyes to see River doing the same. They both smiled at each other before they turned their horses and rode their separate ways, River to the TARDIS and her back to the camp. She'd gotten there just in time, it seemed, as, right as she got off her horse, the Doctor had jumped onto a stone, his voice projecting through the stones and out using River's scanner, "Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news, everyone...cos guess who?!" he threw his arms out, "Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about, it's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute? Because I am talking!" he shouted, smirking when the ships actually stopped moving and quieted, "The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica? Answer... I do. Next question, who's coming to take it from me?" he held his arms out again, "Come on! Look at me, no plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else, I don't have, anything... to... lose!" he turned as he said that, shooting a wink at Mac as she stepped closer, "So if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you. And then, AND THEN," he pointed up at them, "Do the smart thing," he paused, smirking, "Let somebody else try first," he opened his arms a third time, challenging them to make a move…but the ships merely turned and flew off.

"You really love the dramatics don't you?" Mac asked as he turned, tossing Rory the comm..

"That'll keep 'em squabbling for half an hour!" the Doctor winked at her, "Now, come on, I need a second set of eyes."

"What about Rory?" Mac shook her head but followed him.

"Your eyes are lovelier."

"I think Rory's eyes are fairly nice," she shrugged, stepping past him to head into the Pandorica.

The Doctor pouted, pointed a warning finger at Rory, who jokingly held up his hands in innocence, before they joined her down in the underhenge, walking to the Pandorica's cavern.

**"**They're still out there," Rory remarked as they reached the Pandorica, the Doctor handing River's scanner to Mac, "What do we do now?"

"They'll probably leave if we can stop the Pandorica opening," Mac told him.

"Right," Rory nodded and the Doctor looked up at him, starting to frown as he caught sight of something past Rory's shoulder.

"Rory, I'm sorry, you're going to have to be very brave now," he warned the boy as Amy walked over to them, rubbing her head…walking right past Rory without even a first glance.

"Oh, my head," she winced.

"Let me check," Mac stepped over, holding up River's scanner to check her over quickly, nodding at the readings, "Knock-out drops," she smiled, "You should be fine in a few minutes, but fresh air might help.

Amy pointed at the steps, "Is it safe up there?"

"Not remotely," the Doctor shook his head with a smile, "But it's fresh."

"Fine," she sighed, turning and nearly running right into Rory, "Oh, you're the guy, yeah, the one who did the...swordy thing."

Mac frowned at that, not sure what 'swordy thing' Amy was talking about…till she spotted a Cyberman stabbed through the chest and dangling from a door off to the side, working it out from there. It must have incapacitated the Doctor and gone after Amy, using the darts on her and Rory saved her.

"Yeah," Rory nodded, his expression falling.

"Well, thanks for the swording. Nice swording," Amy patted him on the shoulder as she headed off.

"No problem. My men are up there. They'll look after you."

"Good," she waved over her shoulder, not even looking back, "Love a Roman!"

"She doesn't remember me," Rory breathed, turning to them, "How can she not remember me?"

"I tried to tell you before Rory," Mac said sadly, "That crack that was in the wall of the cavern…it was bleeding time energy…it can erase someone from history, make it so you've never been born."

**"**There's going to be a huge explosion in the future," the Doctor added, "On one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it."

"What kind of explosion?" he shook his head, "What exploded?"

"The TARDIS," Mac told him, being honest, "It seems like something might get it to explode somehow."

"And that caused the cracks?" Rory said slowly, "The cracks that erase you from history. Is that what happened to me?"

"Basically," the Doctor nodded.

"How did I end up here?"

"I don't know, you shouldn't have. What happened? From your point of view, what physically happened?"

"He said he was in the cave, with us, and then just woke up as a Roman soldier," Mac told him, "Complete with an entire Roman life."

"I thought I'd dreamed you at first," Rory admitted, "You two and Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girls with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor smiled, before tossing Rory the ring box that Amy had apparently given back to him, "Go get her."

"But I don't understand. Why am I here?"

"Because you are?" he shrugged, Mac unable to explain it either, "The universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. 900 years, never seen one yet. There's one I'm hoping for but this? This would do me. Now get upstairs, she's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it."

Rory nodded and turned to go up after Amy, the doctor patting him on the back.

"What miracle?" Mac looked at him curiously.

The Doctor smiled softly at her, "If we survive whatever this is, I'll tell you," he winked at her, the two of them getting back to working on stopping the Pandorica.

~8~

Mac looked over as the comm. in the scanner beeped, "River?"

"The TARDIS," the Doctor cut in, "Where is it? Hurry up!"

"Don't raise your voice," River warned them, her voice quiet, making them look at each other and step closer to hear her without needing the volume up, there were a few Romans in the room with them, "Don't look alarmed, just listen. The TARDIS went funny, took me to Amy's house. There were landing marks on her front lawn and her door was opened and…the Romans, they're not real, they can't be. They're all right here in the story book, those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book. How is this possible?"

"Something's using her memories, Amy's memories," the Doctor realized.

"But how?"

"Do you recognize the landing patterns on the lawn?" Mac asked.

"No."

"Whoever they are," the Doctor sighed, "If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories."

"But why would they do that?" Mac frowned, "Why go through all that trouble?"

"Who are those Romans?" River asked.

"Projections," the Doctor guessed, "Or duplicates."

"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked."

"They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated."

"Doctor," River hesitated, "That Centurion...he's here too, there's a picture of him dressed as a Roman…"

Mac's eyes widened, "I'm going to go check on Amy," she told the Doctor, turning to hurry off, half running up the stairs when she stopped, hearing a high pitched wail that had her covering her ears but forcing herself on. She stopped again though when she reached the top to see all the Romans had slumped over, "Oh no…" she pleaded, "No…" the suddenly jerked up and started heading for the entrance.

She rushed to the side, hiding behind one of the larger stones, thankful that they hadn't seemed to have spotted her at the moment, and had to wait till they headed down into the underhenge. She bit her lip, wanting to go after the Doctor, knowing not even he could ward off an entire legion of plastic soldiers…when she spotted Rory on his knees, Amy before him, the boy seeming to be struggling with whatever was controlling the plastic men. He had his ring box open, Amy looking at it and him, not seeming to see him shaking more or lift his hand.

"No!" Mac cried, starting to run for them, pushing herself harder when she saw Rory's fingers drop down, a gun hidden in the plastic...and pushed Amy out of the way just as he fired.

The last thing she knew was Rory shouting, Amy screaming, and the sight of the starts supernovaing before her world went black...

To be continued...

A/N: Oh no, Mac! O.O I wonder what will happen next? Hmm... }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Mac will have...quite a lot to deal with in the next chapter }:) But we'll have to wait and see what'll happen at Silencio ;)

Nope, there were some parts missing, I'm trying to keep as much to Mac's POV as I can :) I hope your meeting between the parents and boyfriend went well and I hope you feel better/get out of the hospital soon :)

That's definitely one reason why Mac hasn't noticed the flirting yup ;) A very big reason :) She feels so guilty about how she treated him she thinks he can't still love her after that :(

Not much a quirk, more just an unfortunate consequence of life with the Doctor. I don't think she's had much experience running or being around someone as energetic as him :) Have to keep your energy up somehow ;)

And a very happy birthday to Darthrushy and to Kenny! I hope your days are full of awesome! :)


	14. The Big Bang

The Big Bang

_Present..._

Agent Mackenzie, of UNIT, strode down the halls of the National Museum, heading for the Pandorica room just after the museum had officially closed. A quick flash of her ID was all that was needed to get inside and order the remaining crew and staff to leave. She supposed it was also a bit of her oh-so-friendly personality and her rather no-nonsense appearance that gave the impression that she was someone not to be trifled with. And nor was she. She dressed professionally, pencil skirt, blouse, her hair in a severe bun, glasses on her head. She was capable and more than willing to bark out orders when need be so it hadn't bothered her to go on this mission alone.

She looked down at the note in her hand, written in Gallifreyan, and stormed down the halls. She recognized the handwriting, of course she did, only one person had that chicken scratch. But he shouldn't be there. She'd have thought he'd likely be out there, flying among space and trying to work out where all the stars had gone. It was odd, she looked outside and saw blank space that should be filled with starlight…the humans looked out and saw the same blackness they always had. And that was wrong, something had happened and if that note would help her find out what it was and deal with this situation, she'd take it.

She entered the Pandorica room, as instructed, eyeing the rather large box as it sat there. A sort of distress beacon had been echoing from it, picked up by Torchwood and the box had been found beneath Stonehenge and moved there. She didn't understand how UNIT and Torchwood could even exist as they were given that there were no stars, however not every alien species required stars to live and there had been one or two invasions over the years. Still, as a Time Lady, she could tell when there was something wrong with time and she knew what it was, even if she hadn't her scanners and various programs had picked it up. Time was shrinking, erasing, spreading across the Universe and heading back for Earth, the eye of the storm…which made sense as no one seemed to find it odd that there was a sun out there when 'stars didn't exist' or so the humans argued.

None of them would realize it was a TARDIS exploding.

And there was only one idiot out there stupid enough to allow that to happen.

THIS was why she worked so hard to keep him from coming back to Earth, every time he set foot on any planet at all, it just all went to hell.

She stopped before the giant box, glancing around the room as stone Daleks on display, before she looked at the cube, seeing another note stuck to it in Gallifreyan.

"Place hand here?" she scoffed, "Honestly Doctor," she muttered before reaching out and touching the box.

Instantly it began to glow green through the intricate carvings along the sides of it. She stepped back, watching cautiously as it opened along the corner facing her, a bright light filling the room, revealing a ginger girl in a dress and cardigan sitting within, slightly hunched forward.

Mac blinked as she looked at her past self, "Could use a bit of help," she remarked, "Can't quite reach my paperclips like this," she nodded at her wrist cuffs holding her in place.

~8~

_1,984 years ago..._

"Rory what do we do?!" Amy gasped as she and Rory looked at the body of Mac lying on the ground, "She should be regenerating right?" she shook her head, "That's what they do, they turn all orange and change, they told me so!"

Rory just shook his head, his fingers pressed to Mac's wrist, "I…I can't feel her hearts beating Amy," he looked at her, tears in his eyes as he realized this was his fault, "Can…can they die before that happens?"

"Yes," a voice answered and they spun around to see the Doctor appear in a flash of light, a red fez on his head, a mop under his arm, "Yes it can, but that's not what happened here. Kenzie's not dead yet! She's just nearly dead. Still got that bit of life in her, but it's too small for regeneration to latch onto and be triggered. Anyway that's not the point. The point is it's not the end of the world. Well, it IS the end of my world if she does die, and it is the end of YOUR world too cos of," he pointed up, "But it'll all be fine because…oh, no, wait hang on!" he tapped something on a wrist device he was wearing and disappeared.

"Doctor?" Amy ran over to where he was standing, "Doctor!"

She nearly jumped back, would have fallen too if Rory hadn't caught her when the Doctor suddenly reappeared only inches in front of Amy, without the mop, "Listen, you lot need to get me out of the Pandorica. It's the only way to save Kenzie," he pulled the sonic out of his pocket."

"You're not in the Pandorica," Rory shook his head, he couldn't be if he was standing right in front of them.

"Yes, I am. Well, I'm not now, but I was back then. Well, back now from your point of view, which is back then from my point of view. Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's easy to open from the outside... just point and press. Now go," he tossed Amy the sonic and disappeared…only to reappear again the second they made to step towards Stonehenge, "Oh, and good luck!" he grinned and pointed at them before disappearing.

They waited only a second more to see if he'd return before Amy took Rory's hand and tried to pull him off towards the monument but he pulled back, pulling his cape off to drape it over Mac, wanting to keep her warm if she was still alive, before they ran off, clambering down the stone steps and dashing into the Pandorica's cavern. They slowed, spotting stone statue after stone statue of quite a few aliens, before they made their way before the box.

Amy held up the sonic and flashed it at the stone cube, the corner sliding open, revealing the Doctor sitting within, straps around his wrists and legs, a yoke over him, all of it slowly starting to release him as he gaped at them, "How did you do that?"

"Future you gave it to us," Amy answered quickly, gathering that much from what the other Doctor had said.

"That's nice," he smiled, starting to get up, "I've got a future."

"Doctor we don't have time," Amy lunged forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the box, "Mac's hurt."

"What?!" the Doctor cried, following Amy as she rushed off, leading the way, not even sparing more than a glance at the stone enemies around them.

"What are they Doctor?" Rory called as they ran, "Those stone soldiers. What happened to them?"

"History has collapsed," he said quickly, "Whole races have been deleted from existence. The statues are after-images. Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were. Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"But how can we be here?" Rory shook his head.

"Eye of the storm. We're just the last light to go out. Now where's Kenzie?" he looked around as they reached the top of the stairs.

"This way," Amy led him off, a few feet away, to where Mac was lying, pale as death, on the ground.

"Kenzie!" he fell to his knees beside her, sonicing her, tears in his eyes as he realized…if she still looked like this, then she died before regeneration could set in, "What happened?"

"I killed her," Rory swallowed.

"No," Amy shook her head, seeing the Doctor turning to glare at him and moved to Rory's side, "He was about to kill ME. Mac pushed me out of the way."

The Doctor closed his eyes and let out a breath at that, rubbing his face, that was her wasn't it. That was just so her. Ooh it was Teddy all over again, the boy was definitely his mother's son. It was Mac's doing, it was her choice, Rory hadn't been aiming for MAC, he had to keep repeating that in his head...or he was quite sure he'd find a way to melt a plastic Centurion...

"Doctor, what am I?" Rory asked.

"A Nestene duplicate," the Doctor murmured, turning back to Mac, scanning her again with the sonic, "A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity."

"But he's Rory," Amy frowned, "He remembered me, he remembered the ring, our engagement. He's not that…plastic stuff anymore."

Rory was silent, not wanting to speak about that, not wanting to have to say out loud that he wasn't human…just plastic, so he looked at Mac, at the Doctor lightly stroking her cheek, brushing hair from her eyes from her sidebang, "Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?"

The Doctor looked at the sonic intently, starting to smile, "There just might be!" he cheered, "Quick, get her up, we have to get her to the Pandorica, now!"

Rory ran forward and helped lift Mac up between him and the Doctor, the two men carrying her back down the steps, Amy ahead of them, lighting the way with a torch for them, helping them as they carried her to the box, gently setting her into the seat the Doctor had been strapped to.

"So you've got a plan, then?" Rory asked.

"Bit of a plan, yeah," he nodded, gently stroking Mac's face, cupping her cheeks, "The Nestenes used your memory Amy," he murmured, "With the time crack in your wall and the universe pouring through your dreams every night? Anyone could take a memory print, even of things forgotten," he glanced at Rory, "Got a bit more than they asked for, she remembered your heart and soul Rory," he told the boy before focusing back on Mac, closing his eyes and resting his forehead to hers, "_I'll see you when you wake up Naery,_" he murmured to her, dropping a mental message in her mind, before he stepped back and flicked the sonic at the box, closing it again.

"What are you doing?" Amy frowned.

The Doctor swallowed, "Saving her. This is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive."

"But I thought she died, before regeneration could happen."

"No," he shook his head, watching the box close completely, "She was mostly dead, too dead for regeneration to trigger but not dead enough where the Pandorica can't save her. It can stasis-lock her exactly like that and, if it gets a scan of her living DNA, it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?" Rory scoffed.

The Doctor looked at his watch, "In about 2,000 years."

~8~

_Present..._

Agent Mackenzie jumped back, avoiding Mac as she fell to the ground on her hands and knees panting, knowing not to touch herself or risk a paradox as she didn't know exactly what was going on, "What did the Doctor do this time?" she demanded of her future self.

"Spoiler," Mac shook her head, "Just…give me a mo," she took a deep breath, "Doctor left me a message to rest s little…" she groaned, rubbing the side of her head, "Have to talk to him about not doing that. I'm not an answer phone," she looked around and up at herself, "Where are we again? Which museum's this?" they all started to look the same after so long.

"The National Museum," Agent Mackenzie remarked.

"Oh, right," Mac nodded, taking a deep breath, "And the year is?"

"1996."

"Nearly 2000 years then…" Mac winced, pushing herself to her feet, rubbing her back, she certainly felt it.

~8~

_1,984 years ago..._

"What," Amy frowned, watching as the Doctor dug around in the bag River had left there and pulled out an odd wrist device, "Mac's going to be in that box for 2,000 years?"

"Yeah," the Doctor glanced at hit, his discomfort and ill-ease with doing this evident on his face, "So we're taking a shortcut," he held up his wrist, "River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So the future's still there, then?" Rory asked, eyeing the device, "Our world?"

"A version of it," he nodded, "Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look," he held out his arm, smiling at them, "You put your hand there," the two humans looked at each other a long while before putting their hands on the device, seeing that the Doctor just wanted to get back to Mac as soon as possible and make sure she was ok, "Don't worry, should be safe," he told them, before slapping the button, the three of them disappearing in a flash of light.

~8~

_Present..._

"Why were you in the Pandorica to begin with?" Agent Mackenzie demanded.

Mac turned to open her mouth to utter 'spoilers' again, when a very distinct shout went off behind them, causing them both to freeze in fear.

"Exterminate!"

They spun around to see a Dalek heading for them, still appearing to be made of stone but alive nonetheless. They turned and ran for the Pandorica, hiding around it.

"Exterminate!"

They winced back when a flash of light went off before them and Mac could see the Doctor, Amy, and Rory appear with in it.

"Run!" Mac shouted at them, as the Dalek turned its laser arm on them.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried as it slowly wheeled towards them as the Doctor pulled Amy and Rory after him at a run, "Weapons systems restoring! Exterminate!"

The Doctor stumbled as he slid around the corner of the Pandorica, toppling right into Mac and nearly sending them both crashing into a small alcove display of North Africa. He reached out, trapping Mac between his arms as he tried to right the mannequin that he'd nearly knocked over, grabbing the fez that fell from its head.

"Who are you?" Rory frowned, looking at Agent Mackenzie.

"Agent Mackenzie," she held up her ID, "Of UNIT."

Mac blinked and turned to the Doctor, "Was I as bad as Harriet Jones in doing that?" she had to ask despite the situation.

"You still are," he nodded.

"Oi!" she slapped him on the shoulder, pushing him back so she could stand upright again, though he still had the fez in his hand.

"But THAT's Mac," Rory pointed at their Mac.

"Um…meat my last incarnation," Mac offered, gesturing at her last self.

Amy started to nod at that as though it were perfectly normal, before she shook her head realizing…regeneration really DID mean they turned into new people, "Ok, so what are we doing about the Dalek?"

"Running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one," the Doctor said.

Agent Mackenzie scoffed, "More like get us all killed. That's what you're good at, isn't it Doctor."

"Oh shut up," Mac glared at her past self, "You don't know everything that's happened or everything he's done, so stuff it. If I hear another word out of your mouth like that about the Doctor I'll give you a beaning, get it?"

The Doctor leaned over, "You DO realize you just threatened to give yourself a beaning, yes?"

"Yes, I'm well aware," she whispered back.

"Right, ok, just making sure," he smiled, his hearts warming to see her doing that, to see her defending him in this body against her own self, "First things first, you two," he looked at Amy and Rory, "Get out of here. You as well Agent Mackenzie, just go! Just run!"

"How about we ALL run," Rory suggested.

"We can't, we…" the Doctor's next words were cut off by Rory turning and dropping his plastic fingers, revealing his gun hand, which he fired at the Dalek, getting it right in the eyestalk.

"Vision impaired!" the Dalek shouted, before slowly powering down, "Vision..."

"Brilliant plan Rory," Mac beamed, hugging him quickly as they all ran out from behind the Pandorica, looking at the Dalek.

The Doctor glanced from that to the box and back, "The light! The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek."

"If it's a restorative field…" Agent Mackenzie remarked, looking at the Dalek's laser arm as it twitched, "Go!" she turned and pushed them on, "Out, get out!"

They ran out into the hall, shutting the doors to the Pandorica room behind them, the Doctor quickly putting the fez onto his head as he realized he was still holding it, before he grabbed a mop to help barricade the door…

"The mop!" Rory shouted, pointing at the Doctor, "That's how you looked when you gave Amy the sonic."

"Yeah!" Amy nodded.

"Well, no time to lose then," the Doctor quickly activated the manipulator and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Who gave him that?!" both Macs demanded of the humans, their hands on their hips, though the agent version of her was looking more than a little annoyed whereas she was more exasperated.

Before they could answer, the Doctor reappeared again, turning to place the mop back into its place to try and lock the door even more, before he flashed out again, likely to finish the conversation with Rory. He grinned as he appeared once more, the sonic in hand, Amy having given it back to him after releasing him from the Pandorica, allowing this one to go back and give the original to her in the first place, "Off we go!"

"Doctor!" Mac called, "You're forgetting something," she nodded over to her past self subtly.

"Right yes," the Doctor moved over to her, "How did you know to come here?" Agent Mackenzie sighed and pulled out the two notes that she'd gotten, "In Gallifreyan, in my handwriting," he nodded, "Ok!" and turned to a nearby desk, grabbing the needed papers and pen, jotting down the notes he'd need before slapping the manipulator to go and deposit them at the lab in UNIT and stick it to the Pandorica near closing time.

"Ok," Amy shook her head and looked at the Time Ladies, "How's he doing that?"

"It's called a Vortex manipulator," Mac sighed, "Like an individualized time travel method.

"Cheap and nasty time travel," the Doctor corrected as he reappeared again, "Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up. Unlike Kenzie."

"Hold on," Mac shook her head, "I'M not the one constantly using the manipulator. I don't have to give anything up."

"No I...I meant me, giving up y..."

He was cut off by a flash of light at the top of the stairs behind him, causing him to spin around, all of them watching in shock as a singed, smoking, beaten looking Doctor appeared, looking at them a moment before he collapsed, falling down the stairs to a small landing.

"Oh my god, Doctor!" Mac cried, rushing up to his side, her past self watching her curiously, not sure why she sounded so scared or worried.

"How can it be the Doctor?" Rory frowned as the Doctor scanned himself.

"Doctor, _is _that you?" Amy called.

The Doctor glanced at Mac and then to them, spotting someone missing among them, before he turned back to himself, "Yeah, it's me. Me from the future."

The future Doctor's eyes opened and he sat up, grabbing the Doctor by the lapels and tugging him closer, whispering in his ear as Mac looked at him intently, before the man fell back to the ground, unconscious.

"Are you... I mean, is he... Is he dead?"

Mac swallowed hard and took a breath, "Yes," she nodded, catching the Doctor's eye and nodding, "Yes he is."

The Doctor offered her a small nod of thanks, knowing she hated (really, REALLY hated) lying to the companions, but this was far too dire of circumstances to get concerned about that right now.

"Right," the Doctor clapped his hands and stood, holding out a hand to help Mac up, "I've got 12 minutes, that's good."

"12 minutes to live?" Amy scoffed, "How is that good?"

"You can do loads in 12 minutes...suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath, confess your deep, unending love for someone, well, actually no," he considered it, "Not that last one, would need more than 12 minutes to do that one. Oh well, come on, the roof!"

"We can't leave you here, dead!" Rory argued.

"Oh, good!" the Doctor spun around to face him, a bit of a snap in his words, his grip on Mac's hand tightening, "Are you in charge now? So, tell me, what are we going to do about Agent Mackenzie? Hmm?"

Rory and Amy looked to the side…only to spin in a circle when they saw that Mac's past self was gone.

"Where did she go?" Amy breathed, trying to find her, rushing down the steps, thinking she may have walked away.

"Agent Mackenzie?" Rory called out, frowning, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"That version of me doesn't exist anymore," Mac called to them, "And soon, I won't either. I was on Earth a long time before the Doctor, more permanently than him, history collapsing is affecting me now as well."

"We're all anomalies," the Doctor warned them, squeezing Mac's hand, "We're all hanging on at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing, and if we don't do something, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!" he turned and led Mac off, heading for the stairs to the roof.

Mac looked back to see the two humans dallying, "Oi!" she shouted back at them, "Come on!"

Amy and Rory turned and rushed after them, following them to the stairs, all of them rushing up and up and up as high as they could go till they reached a ladder that led to the roof. The Doctor went first, then Rory and Amy, then Mac as the two women were wearing skirts, all of them gathering onto the roof to see that it was light out.

"What, it's morning already?" Amy squinted against the light, "How did that happen?"

"I just said history is collapsing Amy," Mac muttered, focused on the matter at hand, "I'd have thought it would be obvious what that meant. The universe is collapsing and our time is running out."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked the Doctor as the man pulled a satellite dish off a pole and started sonicing it, Mac moving over to help cross some wires for him.

"Looking for the TARDIS," he replied.

"But the TARDIS exploded."

"Ok, then. I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"I don't understand," Amy shook her head, "So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. Why would it do that? How?"

"Not exactly a question we can answer right now Amy," Mac murmured, "Here's one you should be able to though…if the TARDIS exploding causes total event collapse, which means that every single star in the universe exploded and was never born…then how is THAT still here?" she pointed up at a large ball of fire in the sky, a little too close to be the sun, not even the right color for it, "Keep in mind, we're looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the sun," Rory blinked.

Mac turned to the Doctor, "I don't think it was just Donna."

"What?" he glanced at her.

"Missing the big picture," she remarked, "I'm starting to think it's a human thing in general. If they need it spelled out for them and STILL miss the answer."

The Doctor chuckled, "This ought to help," he called to the humans, "Because here's the noise that sun is making right now," he turned and held up the dish, flicking the sonic on to magnify the sound…and the wheezing of the TARDIS started to echo around them, "That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

**"**Doctor…" Rory closed his eyes, focusing on something else he could faintly make out within the wheezing noise, "There's something else. There's a voice."

Mac reached out and took the sonic from him, setting the power and flicking the dish again with it, helping him adjust the range of the dish.

"I can't hear anything," Amy shook her head.

Rory just pointed to his ear, "Trust the plastic."

"I'm sorry, my loves," River's voice began to join the echoing of the wheezing, repeating over and over the same four words.

"That's River!" Amy gasped, "How can she be up there?"

"Oh no…" Mac looked at the Doctor, horrified, "The Emergency Protocols!"

The Doctor's eyes widened at that, "The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion."

"She's reliving it over and over," Mac turned to him, whacking his shoulder as she took the dish from him, "Go get her!"

He quickly tapped the code into the Vortex Manipulator and disappeared, though they could still hear them on the dish.

"I'm sorry my loves…I'm sorry my loves…"

And then the Doctor spoke up, "Hey there, I'm here."

"You're late!" River huffed, before she and the Doctor reappeared before them on the roof, "Mackenzie!" River immediately ran to hug her, pleased she was ok, before smiling at Amy and Rory, "Amy! And…the plastic Centurion?"

"It's ok" Mac reassured her, "Rory's with us."

"Good, good," River nodded, "I dated a Nestene duplicate once... swappable head, it did keep things fresh. Right then, I have questions. But number one is this...what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" she turned to the Doctor, who was still wearing the fez.

"It's a fez," he smiled, "I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool. Though not quite as cool as the bowtie or headband," he winked at Mac, Amy using his distraction to grab the fez and throw it into the air where River shot it with her blaster, making him pout.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek war-cry rang out behind them as the Dalek levitated up the side of the building and floated before them.

"Go!" Mac shouted, pushing the others on, "Go, go, go!" she held up the dish, using it as a shield as they ran for the entrance to the stairs once more.

~8~

**"**Doctor, come on," River urged the Doctor to move faster as she stood at the base of the ladder that led up to the roof, her blaster aimed at the hatch the Doctor was sonicing to lock shut tight behind them, Mac, Amy, and Rory on the ground looking up at them.

"Shh," he whispered, pressing his ear to the hatch to listen, "It's moving away, finding another way in," he quickly climbed down the ladder, "Everyone ok?" he looked at them, "Kenzie?"

"I'm fine," she nodded, "I checked everyone out already, no one's hurt."

He nodded as well, he should have guessed that, she was rather a worrywart when people were in pain or hurt, "Right, so…it needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly…" he looked at his watch, "Four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know?" River frowned as they turned to follow him down the stairs.

"Because in four and a half minutes it's going to shoot the Doctor," Mac offered, moving beside him as they walked, actually trying NOT to think about that particular detail.

"Shoot him!?" River gaped, "What do you mean, shoot him?!"

"Oh, shut up, never mind," the Doctor waved her off, turning to Mac instead, "How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back. How?"

"The restoration field?" Mac shrugged, "If brought me back without using a regeneration."

"But YOU exist," he reminded her, "They never did."

"Technically they DO exist in some form if their remnants are there, even if they're only afterimages, they're still THERE, physically. And if something, even a memory, is there, it can come back."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, following along, LOVING this, being able talk advanced knowledge with someone else, "So when the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. It blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except..."

"Except inside the Pandorica," River realized, stepping over to them a the Doctor pointed at her, Rory and Amy trying to keep up.

"The perfect prison. Inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

"No, too fast, I'm not getting it," Rory shook his head.

"Me either," Amy agreed.

"The Pandorica holds a memory of the universe," Mac turned to them, "The restoration field can restore that memory."

"So that's how we're going to do it," the Doctor nodded.

Amy blinked, entirely lost, "Do what?"

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!" he turned to walk off, needing to get back to the Pandorica.

"But I don't understand," River rushed after him and Mac, "If the Pandorica partially restored one Dalek, could it really restore the whole of reality?"

"That's why we need to give it a moment of infinite power and transmit the restoration field to every moment in space and time at once."

"And how are we going to do that?" River raised an eyebrow, Amy and Rory just shaking their heads, giving up on trying to follow along.

"With the Big Bang Two!" the Doctor cheered, spinning around to face them, only for his eyes to widen and for him to lunge at Mac shoving her to the side just as a Dalek blast fired at their group, Mac just happening to be standing where the brunt of the blast would have hit, sending him flying backwards onto the ground.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried as it trundled towards them, "Exterminate!"

"Doctor!" Mac rushed to his side, River with her, keeping her cover with her blaster out, Rory pulling Amy around a corner, his hand-gun out as well, firing at the Dalek and impairing its vision, draining its power for now, "Doctor…it's ok," Mac swallowed, feeling tears in her eyes, even though she knew what was going on, even though she'd' been able to hear the whispered words the other Doctor had given…seeing him like that, seeing him hit by a Dalek blast…it was too much like when the Earth was stolen, it was too much like the war, "It's ok…"

The Doctor blinked and looked up at her dazedly, a happy smile on his face, "You're ok."

It wasn't a question.

Mac smiled and nodded, "I am. Cos of you."

"Good," he let out a breath, wincing as he turned to activate the manipulator, disappearing right in front of them.

"Where did he go?" River looked around, "Damn it, he could be anywhere!"

"He went downstairs," Mac whispered, staring at the spot he'd been laying, "12 minutes ago."

"He did?" River breathed a sigh of relief.

Till Amy spoke, "River, he died."

River looked at her, horrified, and then to Mac, but the Dalek began to move once more, "Systems restoring! You will be exterminated!"

"We've got to move," Rory called, seeing that, "That thing's coming back to life."

River swallowed hard and looked at Mac, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You go," she whispered to the Time Lady, "You have to go with them."

"And you?" Mac turned to her.

"I'll be right with you," she promised.

Mac nodded and stood, glancing at the Dalek and back to River, "Show no mercy," she murmured.

"Wasn't going to," River smirked, before pushing her on to face the Dalek.

Mac ran after Amy and Rory as they headed back for the Pandorica room, going down the stairs, only to stop when they saw that the Doctor's body was gone.

"How could he have moved?!" Rory blinked, "He was dead!" before he ran down the stairs, searching for him, "Doctor? Doctor!"

"But he was dead!" Amy agreed.

"No, he wasn't," Mac shook her head, moving past them towards the Pandorica room, "He told you that to create a diversion for the Dalek."

"Rule one," River joined them, rushing past the startled humans and towards Mac as she pulled the mop out of the doors, "The Doctor lies."

"Where's the Dalek?" Amy glanced back, worried it might come after them.

"It died."

Mac gave one more grunt and got the mop out from between the door handles, throwing the doors open to see the Doctor sitting, slumped over, in the Pandorica, "Doctor!" she shouted, rushing down the small hall towards the box, River and the humans after her. She knelt down before him, checking him over from all the injuries the Dalek had given him, reaching out to gently touch his face, trying to wake him as she grabbed the sonic and scanned him, wanting to know exactly where he was hurt and how badly, "Doctor?" she stroked his face, "Wake up, Doctor. Come on old man, time to get up…"

Rory looked up, squinting when he saw the sun getting brighter, "What's happening?"

"Without the explosion in the TARDIS on loop, reality's collapsing faster," Mac murmured.

"Look at this room," River agreed, seeing that the displays were all empty.

"Where did everything go?" Amy frowned.

"History is being erased. Time is running out."

"You silly old Doctor," Mac whispered, "Got your wires mixed up," she murmured, reaching over to where the vortex manipulator's wires were exposed, connected to wires in the Pandorica, and moved to fix them for him as he slowly woke.

"Mackenzie, what was he doing?" River asked her quietly.

"Big... Bang... Two…" the Doctor breathed.

"The Big Bang?" Rory blinked, "That's the beginning of the universe, right?"

"What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings it back?" Amy guessed, "Is that what you mean?"

"Oh…" River stared, finally getting it and turning to the humans to explain, "The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire..."

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light."

"The restoration field would reach every moment of history, every point in time and space, at the same time," Mac remarked, "It would bring everything back."

River's smile faded when she saw Mac gently tracing the wires around the manipulator, following them to the Doctor's hand and holding it, "He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box…" she frowned.

"Why?" Amy asked.

River closed her eyes tightly at that, "So he can take it with him. He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion, isn't he?"

Mac swallowed hard and nodded.

~8~

"I don't want you to do this," Mac murmured as she helped fix the last of the wires up with the manipulator to the box.

"I have to," the Doctor wheezed, sitting there in the Pandorica, just…looking at her softly.

"No I mean…" she took a breath and looked at him, "I don't want YOU to do this, let ME."

"No," he shook his head, "If this doesn't work…" he looked at Amy as she and Rory spoke quietly off to the side, "I need you on the outside to remember me back."

"How do you know I'll be able to do that?" she scoffed, "You'll never have been born, I won't even know you then. You would be willing to bet your life on my memory?"

"Always," he nodded, "Because I think you will," he smiled, "I believe you will. I know, in my hearts, I could never forget you, no matter what, not entirely. You…have been seared into my hearts Naery," he said softly.

"Because I was the first face you saw after regeneration," she nodded. It was a common trait on Gallifrey, when they became new people, the regeneration could be slightly traumatic in the sense that you knew you were dying but then someone new with your memories took over. To compensate and try to make the transition easier, the mind would latch onto the first person it saw, they'd become a sort of anchor to help stabilize you. It was why the Doctor seemed to have especially close relationships with the companions that he saw just after regenerating.

"No," he swallowed, opening his mouth to tell her she'd been seared into his hearts long before he'd even regenerated the first time, when there was a flare of light that filled the room, the explosion getting even bigger than before. He let out a breath, he had been telling the truth, he would need more than just 12 minutes to explain to her how he felt, and right now…he'd be lucky if he had a minute twenty, "River?" he looked at her as she came around from scanning the back of the Pandorica, "Can you tell Amy to come over please?"

River blinked, tears in her eyes, the semi-hopeful/expectant look on her face falling completely when he requested Amy, the sight of it breaking Mac's hearts but there was little she could do as River walked away. If these were her last moments knowing who the Doctor was…she wanted to spend them with him. Despite all she'd suffered from his actions and all she'd felt about him, all he'd done and made up for, everything they'd been through…she wouldn't erase one moment of it for the world. She wouldn't ever want to forget him.

She looked over as Amy made her way to them, "Hi," the ginger girl whispered.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor smiled weakly at her, his grip on Mac's hand tighter than ever though, "The girl who waited. All night in your garden. Was it worth it?"

"Shut up. Of course it was."

"You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said 'No reason,' I was lying."

"It's not important."

"Actually, Amy," Mac interrupted lightly, "It's very important."

"It's the most important thing left in the universe," the Doctor agreed, "It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just you."

"And Aunt Sharon," she corrected.

"Where was she though?" Mac asked gently, "That second time we came back, she wasn't there, nor the third…where was she? Or your mum and dad? Where did they go?"

"I lost my Mum and Dad."

"Yes…but do you remember how?" Mac looked at her, "What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I..." Amy swallowed, starting to blink quickly, starting to get more than a little scared, "I don't..."

"It's ok," the Doctor reassured her, "Don't panic. It's not your fault."

"I don't even remember," she realized, looking at them, startled.

"That was the crack on your wall's fault," Mac told her, "It was erasing your memories Amy, eating away at the life in your head."

"Amy Pond, all alone," the Doctor sighed, "The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

"How could I just forget?" Amy shook her head.

"Kenzie was right," the Doctor looked at her intently, "Nothing is ever forgotten, not really. But you have to try."

"Doctor!" River gasped as the ground started to shake, "It's speeding up!"

Mac took a breath and turned, placing the sonic into the Doctor's pocket.

"There's going to be a very big bang," the Doctor turned back to Amy, speaking quickly but seriously, "Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there."

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Amy shook her head.

"Because... you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back...you can bring them back, too. You just remember, and they'll be there."

"YOU won't," Amy started to step back.

"It's the same as with Rory, Amy," Mac shook her head, "Rory was never born, you remembered him. This time…" she took a breath, "This time it'll be the Doctor who…who's never born. You can bring him back too."

"And if you can't?" the Doctor shrugged, smiling contently, though Amy could see a sadness as he looked at Mac, "You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend anymore," he gave a soft laugh, seeing tears in Amy's eyes, "Amy Pond... crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" Amy whispered.

"Gotcha," he winked at her, before he looked at Mac as the walls of the box started to close, "I'll see you soon," he promised her, just as they shut completely.

Mac looked at the box once more before she headed over to the wall across from it and sat down, closing her eyes and focusing everything she could on remembering the Doctor, all the Doctor's she'd read about, the ones she'd met, the ones she'd loved and hated and cared for…the ones she didn't want to lose. She could hear it, the ground shaking even more, could feel it, could feel River and Rory and Amy sinking down around her, all of them bracing for when the Pandorica flew into the sky, right through the ceiling.

A few moments later, she felt her pocket heat up and opened her eyes, pulling out the psychic paper she hadn't given back to the Doctor from dealing with the Silurians.

'Geronimo.'

That was all it said. She smiled, gently touching the words in his handwriting, before she looked up at the explosion…moments before everything went white…

~8~

…and the next thing Mac knew, she was standing in the doorway of a large banquet hall, staring at the blue phone box as it stood in the middle of the dance floor, Amy, in her wedding gown, was banging on the door, calling to the Doctor inside it as Rory slowly made his way around a long table to join her, both of them so fixated on the box, that they didn't notice her standing there, completely and utterly confused.

"Ok, Mac?" Amy was calling as she knocked on the doors, "Open the doors! Mac?" she huffed, "Doctor! Did I surprise you this time?"

The doors suddenly opened and the Doctor, wearing a suit, top hat, and a scarf around his shoulders, peeked out, dressed for a wedding party, "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing. Hello, everyone," he called as he stepped out of the TARDIS, "I'm Amy's imaginary friend, but I came anyway. Well, I had to," he smiled, seeing Mac, "My date was already here," he quickly rushed to her, hugging her tightly for quite a few moments, before pulling away, "Though she's not quite dressed for a wedding," he smirked at her, "How fortunate that I thought to pull this for you," he pulled out an entire dress from his inner pockets, in a sort of dark pink color, almost reddish, matching the balloons around the room.

Mac let out a breath and looked up at him, "I have no idea what happened," she told him.

He smiled, "Neither do I," he winked, "But you may want to get ready, I'm sure they'll be extra excited to meet 'Kenny.'"

Mac rolled her eyes and turned to head for the TARDIS, only to stop when she saw him following her, "I think I can manage getting changed on my own Doctor," she smiled, "You don't need to help me."

"No!" he started to stutter, "No, no, I…I…I wasn't going to…not…I um…the TARDIS!" he pointed at it, "I was going to move the TARDIS, they're going to need the space for the dancing. And…yes, dancing? You do that at weddings right?"

Mac blinked, "You DID get married Doctor."

"Can't really remember it," he shrugged, "Not my fondest memory," he watched as Mac nodded and headed into the TARDIS before adding, "Maybe one day I'll have a better one though."

~8~

It had been…quite the party and quite the laugh after the Doctor had hit the dance floor. He'd been completely ridiculous with Amy, taught the children a fun little number he seemed to call the 'Drunk Giraffe,' before pulling Mac into a slow song that Amy and Rory had danced to, the only normal song and dance he'd done all night and it had been for Mac. But soon enough, the time came for them to take their leave, not wanting to interrupt the party any more than they already had, wanting to leave the newlyweds to their honeymoon plans.

So they'd made their way outside, heading towards where the Doctor had moved the TARDIS, just reaching the doors and Mac picking up her key when they heard River speak behind them, "Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" she smirked as they turned to her, a knowing look in her eyes.

"You'd know better than us," Mac joked.

"Ah, spoilers," she put a finger to her lips.

The Doctor nodded and handed River back her blue TARDIS journal, one that she'd managed to gift to Amy apparently to help spark her memory. The Doctor had told her as they danced that time had reversed for him, but that Amy could still hear him, so he'd tried to get her to keep remembering him like she had warned Amy to do. He'd told 7 year old Amelia about the TARDIS, the ancient, brand new, stolen blue box…much like the wedding rhyme, and THAT had gotten not just him, but Mac back into the present course of events.

"The writing's all back, but I didn't peek," he offered.

"Thank you," River smiled, putting it into her purse.

"Are you married, River?" he asked as he handed her the manipulator too.

"Are you asking?" she countered without answering, putting the manipulator on.

"Yes."

Her smirk widened, "Spoilers."

Mac laughed at that and shook her head, there was just…something about that woman, "Who are you River?"

River's smirk started to fade into a sad smile, "You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry," she swallowed, tears in her eyes like she was remembering something devastating, "But that's when everything changes," before she activated the manipulator and disappeared.

The Doctor and Mac looked at each other for a long while before turning to enter the TARDIS again, "I don't know where I was," Mac mused as they headed up to the console, "It was like…one minute I was in the museum, and the next I was at the banquet."

The Doctor nodded, "I went through my entire life in reverse," he shrugged, and then I was back in the TARDIS with Amy banging on the door."

"Do you think…" Mac hesitated, "That it's just more proof that…that what happened with the War…that it wasn't your fault?" she asked, "If you had never been born, and all that I thought of you was true, the war would have never happened, I'd have memories of being back on Gallifrey, living out my life. But I don't. There's just…nothing. What if…what if the war still happened, but…everyone just died. I died."

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't like thinking about that."

"Theta the war really wasn't your fault no matter what I said and…"

"Not…not THAT," he looked at her, "I…I don't so much mind thinking about the war now, I…I don't like thinking about you dying."

"Nor I you," she nodded.

He smiled at her, moving over to take her hand, taking a breath, now…now they had time they had more than just 12 minutes and…he felt it now, confident that she felt something for him, something that he could use to tell her how he felt, "Naery I…"

"Oi!" Amy called as she entered the TARDIS, Rory rushing after her, making the Doctor close his eyes and run a hand down his face…he was starting to consider that the humans had worse timing than HE did…and that was saying something but it seemed like every time he tried to talk to Mac about them and their relationship, some human or another interrupted, "Where are you off to? We haven't even had a snog in the shrubbery yet."

"Amy!" Rory huffed, shutting the door.

Amy just laughed and turned, kissing him, "I was talking about US stupid."

Rory blinked, "Oh," and smiled, "Oh, right."

Mac laughed at that, "We're sorry, we just…had things to check on."

"You just saved the whole of space and time," Rory remarked, joining them at the console with Amy, "Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"Space and time isn't safe yet," the Doctor shook his head, "The TARDIS exploded for a reason. Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date, and blew it up. Why?" he frowned, a phone starting to ring, "And why now? The silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to..."

He stopped talking suddenly as Mac made the 'stop talking' sign and answered the phone, "Hello?" she called, "Oh, yes, hello," she blinked and frowned, "No…no I'm pretty sure that's not possible. We were at the prayer meeting, we saw her sealed into the Seventh Obelisk."

"What is it?" the Doctor whispered to her.

Mac pressed the phone to her shoulder, "Egyptian goddess loose on the spatial Orient Express."

The Doctor grinned and took the phone, "Give us a mo," he called into it and looked at the humans, "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye."

Amy smirked, "Yeah, I think it's goodbye," and looked at Rory, "Do you think it's goodbye?"

He nodded, starting to smile, "Definitely goodbye."

Amy kissed his cheek and dashed to the doors, opening them to wave outside them, "Goodbye! Goodbye," before she closed them and hurried back to the console.

"Don't worry about a thing, Your Majesty," the Doctor spoke into the phone, "We're on our way!" he pointed at Mac and she pulled a lever, sending them off to deal with their latest adventure.

A/N: I'm glad you all liked the little twist with Mac getting shot :) I wanted to experiment with what it would be like for a Time Lord in the Pandorica instead of Amy ;) Poor Doctor though, keeps getting stopped from talking to Mac, but I can say we'll see a breakthrough before the end of this story ;) I think you'll quite enjoy the title for the next story ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, Mac was shot :( But no regeneration this time }:) I haven't watched the Princess and the Frog no, that's actually a really old saying, 'the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach ;)

Nope no Teddy here ;)


	15. A Christmas Carol - Part 1

A Christmas Carol - Part 1

Mac winced and pulled her hand back as the console sparked, nearly burning her as she and the Doctor rushed to try and get the box to land on a runaway spaceship, well, cruise ship, well…more like a combination of both. They'd sent the Ponds, as the Doctor loved calling them, off on a sort of honeymoon cruise in a spaceship. It was supposed to be a very nice ride through the planets of a simple solar system around Christmas, dipping into the skies of each world to observe the planets from above as they drifted past. It reminded the Doctor a bit of being on the replica Titanic, how they'd gone to earth to look around. It was sort of like an earth cruise in that sense as the ship was meant to stop on different planets like a cruise ship would stop at different islands and other ports.

Unfortunately, they'd gotten a distress signal from Amy and Rory that the ship was going down or trapped or about to go down but was trapped. And it seemed the sort of thing that was happening. They couldn't get a lock on the ship as they rushed the TARDIS after it, it was caught in some sort of turbulent cloud system that was making it jolt around too much for them to be able to land safely in it to save the people. And since they couldn't get in, they had to make sure the ship could get out.

Mac rushed over to the monitor sending a quick message to Amy and Rory, 'On our way!' she knew that they'd understand who it was from, they'd tracked the distress call into the cockpit so they could assume that Amy and Rory were inside it at that moment, they'd see the message. She was more a fan of calling them the Williams, since that was how Earth weddings worked, but the Doctor insisted n Ponds.

"Have you sent the message?" the Doctor called over the sound of the grinding and groaning of the TARDIS, the box struggling to make her way through the clouds, a phone pressed to his shoulder.

"Yes," she ran over to another set of controls, "Just trying to track where all this disruption in the cloud system is coming from. This isn't normal behavior for clouds."

The Doctor nodded and picked up the phone, "Yes!" he greeted as someone answered, "Hello dear, bit of a bind at the mo. Did you realize there's a ship struck in your cloud system?" he blinked and nodded, listening, "Cloud BELT. Ok, glad we're being politically correct, but listen, two of my rather good friends are in that ship and they need to land. They can't land with the clouds being all wonky…" he smiled, "Thank you, and thanks," he hung up.

"What did the president say?" Mac looked over at him.

"Well, for one, it's a cloud belt not a cloud sys…"

"About stopping the ship!" Mac cut in.

"Right, yes," he winced, moving around to her side, putting in new coordinates, "He's going to contact the man whose device is causing all this and ask him to turn it off."

"And if he doesn't?"

He grinned, "What do you say to popping round to a Mr. Sardick's for Christmas Dinner?"

Mac started to smile, "I think dinner sounds lovely."

"Brilliant, it's a date," he winked at her, turning around and rushing to the other side of the console before either he could take it back, realizing what he'd said, or Mac could remark that it wasn't a date. Luckily for him, as he pulled a lever, the TARDIS shook terribly and it cut them both off from saying anything, sending them whizzing through the Vortex and heading for the home of a Kazran Sardick.

~8~

The TARDIS set down o the roof of a rather large manor home, Victorian in style if they had to guess, much like the little town that surrounded the rather large house. It seemed similar to Earth except you could hardly see the sky the clouds were so thick, but they found the source of all their trouble when the spotted a rather large spire set up right beside them, shooting some sort of energy into the sky.

"We ought to find out where the controls are first," Mac mused, eyeing the spire intently, "See if we can't shut it down that way before resigning to trying to shut it down from out here…"

"Look!" the Doctor cut in, grinning widely as he grabbed her hand, "A Chimney!" he looked at her and back at it on a slightly lower level of the roof, "It's a chimney! A chimney on Christmas Eve!" he turned to her once more, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I really hope I'm not because if you think we should try to jump down that chimney, you're barking mad."

He just pulled her towards it, "Let's jump down the chimney!" he cried, tugging her along.

"Doctor no!" she tried to pull back, but he took a running leap at it, taking her with him.

"Geronimo!" he cried as he dove into the chimney, Mac forced to fall just after him.

Luckily the fire that had been burning at the bottom (for their had to be given the smoke drifting up to them) had been put out by the soot the Doctor knocked free in his fall, falling out into the room and covering the ground as he toppled out of the chimney and onto the floor, letting out an 'oomph' when Mac landed on top of him from her own fall.

"Thank you," she rolled her eyes sarcastically at him, "That was SO much fun. And now my dress is soiled and I'm filthy."

The Doctor glanced at her as he tried to help her up, "You look lovely to me," he commented.

"I'm covered in soot!"

"Well then soot never looked so good," he smiled, taking her hand, "You could be covered in Star Whale sick and I'd still think you were the most beautiful creature in the universe."

She blinked, "I WAS covered in Star Whale sick."

"Well, then," he gave her a look, smiling softly at her.

"Doctor…" she began slowly, "Did you hit your head when you fell through the chimney?" she had to ask.

"No," he laughed, knocking on the side of his head, "No bump or lumps here."

"Are you sure?" she gave him a close look, leaning in to take his head in her hands, eyeing his head for any cuts or bruises, "Because you're talking nonsense."

"I'm talking the truth," he corrected, taking her hands from his face but holding them.

"No," she shook her head, "Because if you're talking the truth then…" she trailed off, looking at him oddly, "Are you…" before she shook her, laughing at herself, "No, no you're not. Why would you?"

"Why would I what?" he shook his head, not following her.

"Nothing," she waved him off and turned to see that they had gained an audience, a small family of four, a man with two children, and an older woman beside him, staring at them. There was an older man in a fine robe standing before them, a few servants scattered about and…a rather large metal box with a hole in it through which she could barely make out a woman that appeared to be frozen within, "Sorry for the mess," she offered them, not really knowing what to say to that. She'd run a scan and record of the planet, no UNIT here so her ID wouldn't work.

"Yes!" the Doctor looked at them as well, as though just realizing there were other people, well that DID happen quite a bit around Mac, "Sorry. Christmas Eve on a rooftop with Kenzie? Beautiful little town you have. Was trying to find some mistletoe but saw a chimney instead, my whole brain just went, 'What the hell!'" he grinned and walked over to the children as Mac tried to brush herself off. She had dressed a bit for the holiday, her dress green, her cardigan red, "Don't worry, fat fella will be doing the rounds later," he winked at the kids, heading back to Mac, "I'm just scoping out the general...chimney-ness. Yes," he moved to put his hand on the chimney, but Mac pulled it away.

"There was just a roaring fire in there Doctor," she reminded him, "You touch that you'll burn your hand."

The Doctor nodded, considering that, before he moved to lean against it for only a moment before pulling his hand away with a wince, "Ow…"

Mac gave him an odd look, "I just warned you not to do that. Why would you?"

He shrugged, and held up his hand, "Kisses make it better?"

Mac blinked and frowned at that, seeing he appeared rather hopeful, "Mother's kisses do," she countered, "I'm not your mother."

"No," he agreed, "But um…I know another person's kiss that would be 11 times better…"

Mac had just opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about when the father of the small family called out, "Fat fella?"

The Doctor sighed and turned away from Mac. He was really trying now he'd decided. He'd been FAR too subtle in his advances with her and in showing her that he truly loved her and in wooing her. He was failing, miserably, and so he'd decided, upon learning that it was Christmas Eve, that if he hadn't succeeded in getting her to realize he was interested in her by Christmas Day…he was going to tell her. He knew he probably should have told her ages ago, when he first regenerated or something but…he didn't know how.

He'd never, in this body, seriously sat down with anyone and talked about his feelings to her. He felt like more of a flirt in this body than a serious discussion person and he rather liked flirting with her…but he'd prefer it if she flirted back too. He knew that she hadn't seemed to realize that his attempts were actually serious flirts and he didn't know why. With the return of Rory and with the Ponds getting married, he didn't feel right in asking them to help be his wingman/woman at the moment, let them have time to themselves for their own relationship. But he really did need to settle this with Mac once and for all. He would step up his game, make his flirting and feelings more obvious than anything…and then, if he hadn't gotten something out of her…he would force himself to sit down and talk to her about it.

He just…wanted to know where they stood. There were times he felt like she KNEW he was flirting but disregarded it. He needed to know why. Did she do it because she didn't realize he was being genuine? Or was she doing it because it was her way of letting him down gently by not responding? He wanted to know if she felt something for him, because he felt like sometimes she did, but other times he could never be sure and he just wanted to know if his flirting was even working.

But he knew, by Christmas Day, he would know.

"Father Christmas," he answered, looking at the small family, but they all looked confused, "Santa Claus...or, as I've always known him, Jeff."

"There's no such person as Father Christmas," the little boy shook his head, his older sister standing beside him and nodding.

"Is that so?" Mac smiled, making her way over to the children and kneeling before them, "Well that's unfortunate as I happen to have met him."

"Yes, see?" the Doctor held out a small black and white photo, leaning over to put his hand on Mac's shoulder so that she could see the picture too.

"1952," she smiled, "The Doctor and I in Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge with Jeff and Albert Einstein. Proof enough?" she winked at the kids.

"Keep the faith," the Doctor pointed at them, before putting the picture away into his coat pocket, "Stay off the naughty list. Ooh!" he started to run across the room, spotting something, "Now, what's this? And I love this, a big flashy lighty thing!"

Mac looked back to see that there was a large control panel before the wall on the other side of the room. There was a seat before it and an assortment of lights and knobs and buttons attacked to it as controls…and, of course, she knew that all those things combined (or even separate) would draw the Doctor in instantly.

"Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time and a crayon."

"Don't touch that," Mac hurried over to him, slapping his hands away from the controls as he moved to try and fiddle with them, "I swear, Doctor, one would think you a child instead of 900 years old."

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional," he recited age old wisdom…before sticking his tongue out at her for emphasis.

"Please don't break this though," she continued, "We don't know how it works yet and if you break it, we won't be able to help Rory and Amy. This clearly is connected to the spire on the roof," she nodded at a line that ran up the wall from the box to what they could only assume was the roof, "And the spire controls the ice clouds…"

"Ice clouds?" the Doctor looked at her.

She smiled, "It's astounding how helpful an environment scan is," she winked at him.

"Ice clouds," he nodded, considering that, "Love it."

"Do you know what I'd love?"

"What?" he looked at her eagerly, his eyes wide with hope.

"I'd love it if you, Mr. Sardick," she turned around, noting that the older man in the robe lifted his chin at that, identifying himself as the man in question, "Could explain to us who that woman is and why she's in an ice box?" she nodded at the container.

"Nobody important," he sneered.

"I doubt that," Mac scoffed as the Doctor stood and made his way over to the container to peer inside, "Everyone is important. Every life is important."

"Not everyone," Sardick's eyes narrowed at her.

"Well then, something must be wrong with me," the Doctor remarked, "In 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before," he glanced back at Sardick before he turned to see Mac had moved to take his place at the controls to the lights, seeing a frown on her face and made his way over to her.

"The controls are isomorphic," Mac shook her head, "One to one, my guess is tuned to Sardick," she added, "They won't work for us."

"Isomorphic?" the Doctor scoffed, "There's no such thing," he reached out to try the controls himself…only for Mac to hold up something in front of his face, "Is that…"

"The Master's Isomorphic laser screwdriver?" she finished for him, "Yes," she nodded, "Confiscated it from the investigation into the _Valiant_ after it was brought back to ground. Which should serve as a reminder that isomorphic devices DO exist."

He blinked and stared at it, "If you've had that all this time, why didn't you use it?"

She stared at him instead, "It's _isomorphic_," she reminded him, "Only he can use it. Just like only Sardick can use these controls."

"The skies of this entire world are mine," Sardick agreed, "My family tamed them, and now I own them."

"Tamed the sky?" the Doctor looked at him skeptically, "What does that mean?"

Mac shook her head, "I'm still trying to work out how he can OWN them."

Sardick rolled his eyes at them, "It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?"

"Oh we know," Mac crossed her arms, "We had a very nice chat with the president about you. He sends his love."

"Listen," the Doctor headed over to him, "We need your help…"

"Make an appointment," Sardick cut in.

"There are 4,003 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt," the Doctor frowned at him, "Without your help, they're going to die."

"Yes?" he shook his head, as though not seeing the problem.

"You're really going to let that happen?" Mac gaped at him, horrified.

"Seems like it," he moved to sit down on a chair, calling out, "Chuck!" to the servants who started to move to the Doctor and Mac, grabbing their arms to escort them out, ushering the family out as well, but the Doctor twisted out of the servant's hold to stride up to Sardick again, "Ooh, look at you, looking all tough now."

"There are 4,003 people I won't allow to die tonight," the Doctor warned, "Do you know where that puts you?"

"Where?"

"4,004."

"Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"

"If you knew the things he's done in the past," Mac called, "The things we've BOTH done," she added, seeing the Doctor glance back at her and offered him a smile, letting him know she was NOT making this about Gallifrey, "You'd not be joking."

The Doctor nodded and looked at Sardick again, "Whatever happens tonight, remember... you brought it on yourself."

But Sardick just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, right, get them out of here. And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."

Mac shook her head at the man, watching as a servant grabbed the Doctor's arm to force him on once more…when the little boy caught her eye, squirming his way away from the servants and his family, before he ran and grabbed a lump of coal from the ground and soot and threw it at Sardick, striking him in the head.

Sardick leapt to his feet and stormed over towards the boy, raising his hand to strike him, when Mac pulled out of the servant's hold and rushed over, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him behind her to stand in front of him, facing down Sardick, "Don't you dare," she gave him a hard look.

It was probably a combination of culture and personality that led to the glare she was sending him. On Gallifrey children were treasures, hardly ever, ever, EVER abused ever. To see someone, anyone, about to strike a child was just sickening. And, given her having younger siblings she'd always felt responsible for and need to protect, and not being able to have children of her own, well…Sardick would have to get through her first to get to the boy.

Sardick glared back at her but lowered his hand, "Get him out of here!" he ordered the servants, nearly spitting fire at the young boy as he peeked out from behind Mac, "Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!"

The boy was pulled back and forced over to his family, the four of them being pushed out of the room as Sardick stalked back to his chair, sitting heavily down on it before he noticed that the servants had focused so much on getting the family out that they had left the two Time Lords standing there, "What?" he demanded, "What do you want?"

"A simple life with my Chosen," the Doctor shrugged, making Mac look at him sharply for that, "But that boy…I saw you, you were hesitating even before Kenzie got in your way. You weren't going to hit him, were you?"

"I will next time!"

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "You see, you won't. Now why? What am I missing?" he looked at Mac, "What is it?" he took her hand, "You always were spot on with details, things I miss."

Mac looked back at the room, ignoring Sardick as he shouted at them to get out, when she noticed it, "His chair," she murmured, stepping forward to stand behind it, "It's facing away from the portrait of your father," she gestured over her shoulder at a portrait on the wall of a man who looked a lot like Sardick, "It's clearly an old painting, decades old by now, so it's not you. It's your dad, and even though he's gone you can't make yourself take the painting down but you don't like him looking at you and judging you. But you've changed the room around so it's not like the painting…"

"Brilliant," the Doctor realized, "You're scared of him and you're scared of being like him. And good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Sardick breathed, startled that they'd worked all that out.

"Because you weren't going to hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mr. Sardick."

"I despise Christmas!" he snapped.

"Don't know why," Mac mused as the Doctor took her hand and started to lead her out of the room, "It suits you."

"And how's that?" he spat.

"It's halfway out of the dark," the Doctor smirked back at him, the two of them stepping out of the room and heading for the main doors as Sardick began to shout orders for the soot to be cleaned up. They'd just reached the doors and stepped outside when a small comm. in the Doctor's pocket beeped and he pulled it out.

"Have you got a plan yet?" Amy called immediately, not giving them a chance to speak.

"Yes, we do."

"No we don't," Mac corrected.

"Kenzie!" the Doctor pouted.

"They're in danger Doctor, and it's not going to do them or anyone else any good to lie to them about what's going on," she took the comm. from him and held it up, "Amy, we managed to find the device that's controlling the clouds.

"Yes, we could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."

"Oh, hey, hey, that's great news," Amy cheered.

"Except we can't access the controls," Mac gave the Doctor a look, "They're isomorphic."

"Iso what?"

"They only work for one person."

"But!" the Doctor added, "We know who he is and we've met him."

"Ah, well, there you go," Amy let out a breath of relief.

Mac made the 'stop talking' sign and began to speak to Amy, "Except the Doctor made his usual charming impression on him and he's rather against helping us at the moment."

"Sir?" they looked over, seeing the father from the small family heading over to them, "Ma'am?"

"Hang on," the Doctor called to Amy as Mac pressed the comm. to her shoulder and they turned to face the man.

"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr. Sardick like that," he laughed, shaking their hands enthusiastically, "Bless you, and merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Mac smiled, "But um, if you'll excuse us…" she held up the comm..

"Right yes," the man nodded, "Just wanted to say you'd better get inside, sir. The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."

"Oh, right, yeah," the Doctor nodded, waving the man off, before he realized what he'd said, "Sorry, fish?"

"Yeah. You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."

"Yeah, fish, I know fish. Fish?"

"It's all Mr. Sardick's fault, I reckon," the man sighed, "He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood. Thank you. Bless you once again," he nodded at them before he turned to rush back to his family.

The Doctor frowned and looked at Mac in utter confusion, "Fish?" but Mac nodded behind him, making him turn to see small fish flying in the air, literally swimming through the air around a lamppost, "Fish… Fish that can swim in fog. I love new planets!"

"The Captain says we've got less than an hour..." Amy's voice began to sound over the comm., "What should we be doing? Doctor? Mac…Mac, hello?"

"Sorry Amy," Mac sighed, "The Doctor's gone and gotten himself distracted, she watched as he held out his hands to the fish, letting them nibble on his fingertips, speaking baby-talk to them as she shook her head, "There are fish that can swim in the fog," she warned, "Small ones, so there may be bigger ones up by you."

"Oh great," Amy muttered, "Any time you want to unnerve me!"

"Don't worry Amy, we've got an hour…we can get you lot safe, just…

"How?" Amy called, "What's the plan?"

"What?" Mac winced, hearing a Christmas tune starting to play loudly over the speakers around them.

"How are you going to get us out of here?" Amy repeated.

"I can't hear you Amy!" she shouted, trying to cover one of her ears at the noise, "A Christmas carol is playing!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor cheered, "That's it!" he ran over to her grabbing her face in his hands and kissing her forehead, "You are brilliant!"

Before he turned and ran off, shouting, "Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick!"

"Amy…" Mac sighed, "I'll have to call you back," before she closed the communications and rushed after him.

~8~

Mac and the Doctor watched sadly from the back of the main parlor of Sardick's home, the man having been sleeping in his armchair when they'd played some old footage of the 12 year old Kazran Sardick, in his bedroom, making a video about the fish. The little boy was so excited to try and see one and was so firm in his believe that the fish liked it when people sang, that it would calm them down and keep them from attacking.

But the boy's father had other thoughts, had stormed into the room, shouting about how foolish he was, waking older Sardick in the process, the man watching in muted horror as his father shouted and raged and smacked him on the recording. Mac and the Doctor both winced at that, seeing the man actually strike a child, seeing how he'd made young Kazran start to cry.

"It's ok," Mac stepped forward and put a hand on Sardick's shoulder, hating to see even the old, bitter man in pain and upset, "It'll be ok…"

Sardick turned, jumping away from her, "What have you done? What is this?"

"Found it," the Doctor shrugged, coming up beside Mac, "On an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality, Mac had to recover the data."

"Quantum enfolding and a paperclip," Mac smiled, "That's me."

The Doctor grinned at her, before he stepped past Sardick to sit on the chair the man had just been in, picking up the newspaper before it, "Oh, I wouldn't bother calling your servants, they quit," he added when Sardick moved to a rope that would send out a call to come to the room from his servants.

"Yes," Mac nodded turning an amused look at the Doctor, "Seems they somehow managed to win the lottery."

"There isn't a lottery," Sardick frowned.

"We're aware," Mac nodded, "Said 'somehow' didn't I?"

"Who are you?" Sardick looked at them closely, trying to ignore his father starting to shout at him on the recording again.

"Tonight, I'll be the Ghost of Christmases still to come, while my lovely Kenzie, is the Ghost Of Christmas Past."

"Mr. Sardick," Mac called, eyeing the display of young Kazran weeping as his father stormed out, "When you were him…DID you get to see a fish?"

"What does that matter to you?" he spat.

"It did to YOU."

Sardick was silent a moment before he glanced at himself crying in his room, "I cried all night," he admitted, "And I learned life's most invaluable lesson."

"Which is?" the Doctor frowned.

"Nobody comes," he said harshly, turning to them and waving his cane at them, "Get out! Get out of my house!"

The Doctor lunged forward and grabbed Mac's hand, pulling her back as she was closest to him, "Ok, ok," he nodded, "But we'll be back. Way back. Way, way back. Way, way, way b…"

Mac shook her head, making the 'stop talking' motion to stop him rambling, and pulled him through a door and into the cupboard beyond where they'd hidden the TARDIS, the two of them rushing to the console, tracking the date and time of the recording that was still playing, and setting down outside a bedroom window. The Doctor grinned and ran for the doors, opening them and rushing out with Mac, hopping onto a large circular window in the wall of a bedroom, one that led to young Kazran, the boy now at his desk, crying before his camera as it recorded them appearing for Sardick.

Kazran slowly lifted his head and turned to look at them.

"See?" the Doctor smiled, "Back!" before he hopped into the room and turned to help Mac down, more like spinning her around the moment his hands touched her waist, before setting her on the ground.

"Who are you?" Kazran asked.

"Hello," Mac slowly made her way over to him, crouching before him to take his hands, "I'm Mackenzie, and that's the Doctor and we're…" she trailed off, seeing the Doctor bouncing up and down on the boy's bed, "I'M your new babysitter."

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted at that, still bouncing, "I'm his babysitter too!"

But Mac ignored him and shook her head, turning back to Kazran, "Hey now," she murmured, reaching up to brush his tears away with the pads of her thumbs, "No crying, now with us around. That's the rule."

Kazran shook his head though, "Where's Mrs. Mantovani?"

"Oh, you'll never guess!" the Doctor started trying to jump and spin in a circle at the same time, "Clever old Mrs. Manters, she only went and won the lottery!"

"There isn't any lottery!"

"So we've been told," Mac smiled.

"What a woman eh?" the Doctor hopped off the bed, "Nothing compared to Kenzie though," he reached out and took her hand, pulling her up and to him and spinning around in a circle.

"You're not exactly helping your case that you're also his babysitter Doctor," Mac remarked.

"IF you ARE one of my babysitters," Kazran began, "Why are you climbing in the window?"

"Cos if we were climbing out, we'd be going in the wrong direction," the Doctor answered simply, "Pay attention."

"Mrs. Mantovani's always my babysitter."

"Times change," the Doctor turned Mac in his arms, wrapping his arms around her waist and walking her back towards the camera, her back to his front, resting his chin on her shoulder, "Wouldn't you say?" he asked the recording, "You see... Christmas Past."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Well, we'll be talking to you one day," Mac remarked as she glanced at Kazran, "When you're older and looking back on this moment."

"Now, your past is going to change," the Doctor added to the camera, "That means your memories will too. Scary, but you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand," Kazran shook his head.

"I'll bet you don't! I wish we could see your face," he grinned, pointing between Kazran and the camera, Sardick, "Right, then. Your bedroom," he turned around, releasing Mac as he rushed around the room, looking at everything, "Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old, so…Kenzie?" he turned to her, "What was your brother like?"

Mac looked at him, "You had a brother too."

"Yes, but yours was more like him," he pointed at Kazran.

"True," Mac nodded, Kazran was much more subdued than the Doctor's brother was. Those two must have given their mother hearts attacks frequently they were both such balls of energy and far too curious for their own good, right little trouble makers the pair of them. Her brother, probably because of the expectations put on them from their family, was more subdued and calm. More like a little aristocrat or some other rubbish word like that. He was just very polite and well-mannered, much like Kazran, "No going near under the bed," she began to list, "Or the cupboard…"

"Ooh, really?" the Doctor pouted, making his way over to it to look inside, "I love a cupboard. You used to love the cupboards too," the Doctor turned in the doorway to point at Mac, "We both loved them especially when we hid in them together and…"

"And stay away from talk like THAT as well," Mac gave him a pointed look, flushing. She and the Doctor hadn't exactly been shy about their bodies near (what should have been) the end of the courtship. Cupboards were fun, private for her, and dangerous for him, the threat of anyone finding them in there…

She looked away, flushing more as she thought on that.

The Doctor was a cross between wincing at having brought that up and grinning that Mac was blushing and clearly thinking about it.

"When you what?" Kazran frowned, blinking as he looked at the two of them, not sure what they weren't telling him what they did in the closet.

"Went looking for face spiders," the Doctor offered, the first thing that came to his mind.

"What's a face spider?"

"It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards and…"

"Doctor," Mac cut in, "Stop using your mouth and start using your brain," she nodded at Kazran, who was now staring at his cupboard door with fear.

"Yes…" he winced, "I probably shouldn't have mentioned. Right, so what are we going to do?" he looked between them, "Eat crisps and talk about girls? Actually no," he held up a finger, "Can't do that."

Kazran blinked, "Why not?"

The Doctor moved over to crouch beside him, whispering (a bit too loud for Mac to NOT hear him), "You're not supposed to talk about the girls when they can hear you," he winked at the boy, making Mac shake her head at him, amused.

Kazran looked between them again, "Are you really babysitters?"

"I am," Mac nodded, gesturing at the Doctor.

The Doctor merely stuck up his chin at that, "I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult," he whipped out the psychic paper to show the boy.

"It's just a lot of wavy lines."

Mac laughed and plucked the paper from the Doctor's hands, "Never thought I'd see that happen."

"Yeah, it's shorted out," he sighed, eyeing it, "Finally, a lie too big."

"That's why you shouldn't lie," she whacked him on the shoulder with the paper before handing it to him, "Especially not to children."

He nodded, "Ok," he looked at Kazran, "No, not really a babysitter…" Mac cleared her throat, "Ok, I'M not really a babysitter, but it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one, you want us."

"Why?" Kazran asked, "What's so special about you?"

"Everything," Mac told him, "The Doctor is…remarkable. One of the most amazing men in the Universe.

The Doctor smiled at that, so touched she thought that, now he just had to find out if she meant it platonically or if there might be a bit more feeling behind it, "And Kenzie is the most wonderful woman ever," he looked at her softly, "The most beautiful too, eh?" he glanced at Kazran, "The face that'd launch 10,000 spaceships yes?"

"What?" Kazran blinked, completely confused as Mac blushed.

"Speaking of ships and fish…"

"We weren't talking about fish."

"Yes, well ships catch fish don't they?"

"Not spaceships."

"Well…ships, in general."

"But…"

"If you children could quiet down," Mac cut in, "We need to know more about the fish, the cloud belt, and how they manage to fly in them."

"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt," Kazran offered, "Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, "I've seen your dad's machine."

"What? You can't have!" it was still in the process of being built!

"Tame the sky..." the Doctor muttered, "Human beings, you always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you?"

"Kazran, do you still want to see a fish?" Mac smiled at him, wanting to cheer him up.

Kazran stared at her, "You're not going to tell me it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous?!" the Doctor scoffed, "Oh highly, but if Kenzie says we ought to do it, we ought to do it."

"You do everything she tells you to?" Kazran eyed him.

"Oh yes," the Doctor grinned, "Try to at least. Anything that keeps her happy."

"Is she your wife?"

"What?" Mac started to laugh a bit as the Doctor sputtered, "Why do you think I'm his wife?"

Kazran shrugged, "I hear a lot of dad's workers say things like that, 'happy wife is a happy life.' What does that mean?"

The Doctor smiled looking at Mac, "It means seeing the person you love the most happy, makes you happy too."

Mac blinked and eyed him a moment, about to ask why he was looking at her when he merely winked and turned to look out the window at the fog, trying to see the best way to catch a flying fish.

~8~

"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran shifted as he sat between Mac and the Doctor in his cupboard a short while later. The Doctor was sulking and pouting, having muttered something about wanting to sit by Mac before but she'd wanted Kazran between them, for comfort he was sure, having the boy between two 'adults' would make him feel safer about their plan. But he'd wanted to sit by her and wasn't so he started pouting. He was sitting to Kazran's right, his hand up, a bit of string looped around his finger, a string that was up, over the door top, into the room, hanging from the light fixture on his ceiling, and dangling the sonic like a fishing lure in the middle of the room. All Mac's idea, which had gotten the Doctor onboard immediately, but he'd still wanted to sit by her.

Mac just put her arm around Kazran's shoulders, giving him a squeeze, "No," she told him simply.

"Not at this time of night," the Doctor agreed, sounding more like he was grumbling under his breath, "They'll all be sleeping in your mattress."

Mac whacked him on the shoulder for that one, "There aren't any face spiders on your world, Kazran, you have nothing to worry about," she crossed her hearts.

"So why are you so interested in fish?" the Doctor wondered.

Kazran shrugged, "Cos they're scary."

"Good answer," the Doctor chuckled.

"What kind of tie is that?"

"A cool one," the Doctor tugged it, "Not quite as cool as Kenzie's headband," he reached over the boy to give her headband a snap.

"Doctor!" Mac huffed playfully, fixing her hair and the headband.

"Why is it cool?" Kazran continued.

"What's the REAL reason you want to see a fish?" Mac asked him, nudging him lightly.

Kazran looked at her and sighed, "My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"You weren't too frightened were you?" Mac inquired, giving him an extra squeeze.

"I wasn't there," he looked down, "I was off sick."

"Ooh, lucky you," the Doctor began, only to see Mac shaking her head over Kazran, the boy bowing his head in sadness, "Not lucky?"

"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."

"But not you," Mac nodded.

"Why are you recording this?" Kazran had to ask, seeing that his recorder was still set up before them.

"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor cut in as Mac opened her mouth to answer.

"Sorry, what?"

"Cos you're not paying attention now and neither are you Kenzie, shame on you both," he held up his finger to show that the string was tugging on it.

Mac nodded, "Time to check it out," she started to stand, holding out a hand to help the Doctor up though he didn't let go of it after he was standing.

"Are you sure?" Kazran looked at them, knowing that it could be anything in the room right now, a small little goldfish…or a giant shark, maybe even a whale!

"Trust me," the Doctor turned to the door, about to open it.

Kazran's expression immediately fell, "Ok…"

"Oi!" the Doctor turned to him, handing the string to Mac so he could crouch down to observe the boy, "Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"

"Yes," Kazran started to smile now.

"That's why it's cool."

"What about Kenzie…"

"Mackenzie," the Doctor corrected quickly.

"You can just call me Mac, Kazran," Mac offered, hearing an insistency in the Doctor's voice as he corrected the child.

"What about Mac's headband?" he looked at the Doctor, "Why's that cool?"

"Because Kenzie just is," the Doctor pointed at him, sending a wink to Mac before he took her hand once more and stepped out of the cupboard with her, the two of them looking at the small floating fish that was trying to nibble on the sonic. "Hello, fishy. Let's see," they slowly got closer to it, though keeping close to the walls to move around it for a better look, "Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh? Maybe carrying a tiny electrical charge?" he looked at Mac, knowing she'd run the environment scan. Mac just shrugged, the scan really only picked up basics and told them whether or not the air outside the doors of the TARDIS would kill them. It had said nothing about what the clouds were really made of and wouldn't be able to without a sample of it, they hadn't been able to take the TARDIS up there with how turbulent the clouds had gotten before, "Is that how you fly, little fishy?"

'What is it?" Kazran called through the door, "What kind? Can I see?"

"Just give us another mo," Mac told him.

"Is it big?"

"It's actually rather small."

The Doctor leaned in to look at it closer, "So, little fella, what do you eat?" he jumped back, covering Mac's mouth with a hand to keep her screaming when a shark flew through the window and ate the fish, and the sonic, whole in one giant bite, "Sorry!" he hissed to her, pulling his hand off her mouth as soon as he was sure she wasn't going to scream and alarm Kazran. The boy really WAS so much like her brother had been and, at the first sign of danger to people he cared about, he would bolt into a room to help…they didn't want the shark to harm him, "Sorry," he repeated, kissing her temple, he knew how much she hated it when people physically silenced her, "Can't scream, do NOT scream."

"I know," she took a deep breath, taking his hand, squeezing it to tell him she wasn't cross with him for doing that this time, "I know."

"How little?" Kazran asked, unaware of the shark that was in the middle of the room, "Can I come out?"

"No!" they both shouted.

"No, no, just another mo," Mac offered, the Doctor starting to edge the along the walls, towards the cupboard, their eyes on the shark.

"What color is it?"

"Bit gray."

The Doctor turned and threw the door to the cupboard open, pulling Mac inside after him, before slamming it shut and falling against it, panting, wincing as the shark rammed against the door, Mac rushing to help him hold it closed.

"What's happening?" Kazran moved to help them, not sure what was going on or what was trying to break down his door.

"Well," the Doctor began, "Concentrating on the plusses, you've definitely got a story of your own now. Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I understand the fog, which'll help us land a spaceship in the future, and save a lot of lives. And I'll get some readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in your bedroom."

"There's a shark in my bedroom?"

"Oh, fine, focus on that part!"

"Shh…" Mac hissed as the banging and the ramming suddenly stopped.

"Has it gone?" Kazran frowned, "What's it doing?"

Mac knelt down and pulled a flat mirror out of her pocket, slipping it partially under the door and lifting the end of it up, able to see the shark in the reflection, "It's taking a run up!" she cried, pulling the two men back and towards the back of the cupboard just as the shark rammed itself at the door so hard it broke through, it's mouth open and chomping before staying open, a faint green glow, the sonic, inside its mouth.

"It's going to eat us!" Kazran shouted a they huddled as far back as they could the shark twisting and turning and trying to get to them, but it was stuck in the door for now, "It's going to eat us, it's going to eat us... Is it going to eat us?"

"Maybe we're going to eat it," the Doctor suggested.

"When does that sort of luck ever happen?" Mac scoffed sarcastically.

"Well, it's stuck, though, that's a bit lucky," the Doctor pointed out where it did appear that the shark was wedged into the doorway too tight to get in, "Let's see. Tiny brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably stun it."

"Well, where's your screwdriver?" Kazran looked at him.

"You see that green glow in the shark's throat?" Mac called.

"Yes."

Mac gave him a pointed look.

"Well, well, concentrating on the plusses," the Doctor added, "There's a real chance, the way it's wedged in the doorway, of keeping its mouth open."

"There is?"

"Agree with me. Cos I've only got two goes, and then it's Kenzie's turn and I'd really rather avoid that.

"Two goes?"

"You're Not sticking your arm down the sharks throat Doctor!" Mac yelled at him.

He just winked at her, "Watch me," and lunged for the shark…

~8~

The Doctor was beaming widely as he stood on the patio outside Kazran's bedroom window, just in front of the TARDIS, Mac holding his arm, the one that had been in the shark, and examining it closely for any cuts or bruises or any sort of injury. He really loved that about her personality this time, that she was so focused on people when they were hurt or could possibly be hurt. He really as strongly considering faking a cold to see how she'd be taking care of him, just to feel her taking care of him. He really did love how much she fretted, it was like an echo and a remnant of her first self, something familiar to him that he missed seeing. He was so pleased by her attention to just his arm that he didn't even mind that the shark had eaten half his sonic…because it had bitten down on it just as he was pulling it out, which had made Mac even more frantic to see if he was ok, and that was perfectly fine in his book. He'd trade a thousand sonics if it meant Mac would fret over him.

Kazran was behind them, kneeling on the ground beside the shark that they'd picked up and moved outside, the boy trying to pet the shark and check on it.

"Your arm's fine," Mac nodded, before whacking his shoulder with the back of her hand, "Don't do that to me again."

He smiled and crossed his hearts but said nothing out loud.

"I think she's dying," Kazran called up to them, looking at them in concern.

"Can't scan it with half a screwdriver," the Doctor remarked, eyeing the large fish, "But yeah, I think so."  
"The smaller fish can probably survive longer down here," Mac mused, "But a larger fish would need more fog than this," she looked around, "Probably was just on a scavenging trip…"

"Can't we get it back up there?" Kazran frowned, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."

"She was trying to eat you," the Doctor reminded him.

"She was hungry."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, Kazran. We can't save her. I could take her back up there, but she'd never survive the trip."

"We would need one of those ice boxes," Mac remarked, "They might sustain her but where would we get one of them?"

"I can get one!" Kazran quickly jumped up and grabbed their arms, pulling them inside and out of his room. He led them down a flight of stairs to the main parlor, moving to grab a lamp…while the Doctor got distracted by the large Christmas tree off to the side before Mac dragged him away and towards the second set of steps that led to the basement.

There was a large metal door in the wall with a small round hole in it through which could be seen an enormous room filled with fog and lined with the iceboxes, they could only assume that there were people in them like with the one they'd seen Sardick with.

"What's that room?" Mac frowned, seeing the same.

"It's where dad keeps the surplus population," Kazran sighed, "That's what he calls them," he moved to a large wheel set in the door and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge, "Oh, it's not turning! Oh, why won't it turn?"

"Might be that…" Mac nodded at a key panel on the door.

The Doctor moved over to it and tried to flash it with the sonic to unlock it, but the sonic was too fried and broken to do much, "Ah, what's the number?"

"I don't know," Kazran shook his head.

The Doctor looked at the sonic, it might not be able to open the lock, but it did get quite a few other readings, "This place is full of alarms, it's not just the door. We need the number…"

Mac stepped up and frowned at the buttons, looking at them intently.

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older," Kazran told him.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he moved to rush off, "Don't," Mac called after him, "I can get it open."

The Doctor stopped and whirled around, blinking, "You CAN?"

Mac smirked back at him, "Look at you, you've gotten rubbish at thinking past using a sonic on everything."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "And how are you going to open it without one then?"

"Watch and learn Doctor," she turned back to the controls, taking out a small compact blush and brush from her pocket. She rubbed quite a bit of the substance on the brush and lightly dabbed all the buttons, her smirk widening as she saw something and put it away, "There."

The Doctor stepped closer but just saw smudges, "Not following."

She rolled her eyes, "There's only finger prints on 4 numbers," she pointed out, indicating to them without touching them, "2, 5, 7, 8."

"That doesn't help, there could be hundreds of combinations from just those numbers."

"Look AT the fingerprints Doctor," she shook her head at him, "There's more powder on the 7, then on the 2, the 5, and barely any on the 8."

"Is that the order then?" Kazran asked, "7258?"

Mac just pushed it in and the door clicked as it unlocked, opening for them. The two men blinked and turned back to her.

"The oil on your fingers would be thickest the first time you touch a button and less for each number after that," she remarked, "You'd just have to follow the order of diminishing presence of a fingerprint."

The Doctor blinked again, "I love you SO much."

Mac just smiled though there was a curious quality to it as she seemed to sense that he'd said it with FAR more severity and solemnity than he had any time before in that body.

"Well come on then," Kazran called, turning to pull the door open more and step into the Vault. The Doctor gave Mac one more very serious look before he followed the boy in, Mac moments later.

"There's fish down here, too," the Doctor remarked, seeing a few floating in the thicker fog as they walked down the rows of people.

"Yeah, but only tiny ones. The house is built on a fog lake. That's how Dad freezes the people," he came to a stop before one of the boxes, "They're all full, but we could borrow one. This one," he nodded at the one he was standing in front of.

Mac pulled out her penlight and flashed it at the person inside, seeing the woman from before, "Her again."

"You know her?" Kazran looked up at them.

"Why her?" the Doctor eyed him, "Important, is she?"

Kazran blushed and looked away, "She won't mind. She loves the fish," he hurried to the side of the box and put in a code, making a hologram of the woman's face appear in the small window.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew…" the hologram began to speak as the Time Lords turned and wandered up aisle of people, looking in at them as Kazran watched the video.

"Why does your dad keep all these people here?" Mac frowned. They were all different, different ages and shapes and genders and races.

"My dad lends money. He always takes a family member as..." he trailed off before sighing, "He calls it security."

"Hard man to love, your dad," the doctor glanced back at him, "But I suppose you know that."

Kazran didn't reply, just turned to put in another code to start the warm up process, but when he looked back over, he saw the two Time Lords whispering to each other, looking at the sonic in the Doctor's hand in concern. He frowned and made his way over to the, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," the Doctor began, when Mac elbowed him in the side, "My half a screwdriver trying to repair itself," he corrected instantly, "It's signaling the other half."

Kazran stiffened, realizing why they were so serious looking and on edge, "But…the other half's inside the shark…"

"Exactly," Mac nodded, reaching out to pull Kazran closer, "And that signal…it's homing in on the sonic…"

She couldn't even finish the sentence when the shark flew out of the fog, its mouth wide, teeth sharp, bearing down on them and ready to attack…

A/N: Ooh, we're going to get a resolution to the 'wooing' very soon! ^-^ The Doctor's just got to make it to Christmas Day! :)

And...I'm VERY excited for tomorrow! SO much going on and quite a few treats for you guys ;) Because...

April 13th marks the 2 year anniversary of when I posted my first story so, to celebrate, tomorrow I'll be posting a SuperWhoLock one-shot crossover of my 3 OC series featuring Michelle/Proffy/Leena :) It'll be a few hours after I post this story and Merlin though ;)

ALSO! Tumblr takeover! Woo! I've decided that, starting this year, I'll be doing a sort of 'tumblr takeover' where, on the day I first posted a new OC, that OC takes over my tumblr. For this year, it's all stories that I posted between 2012-2013, next year I'll be including the new OCs from this year on top of that and so on :) Since the 13th is also the first day I posted the Professor, SHE will be taking over my tumblr for the day. So anyone who wants to talk to or ask questions of dear old Proffy, for 24 hours she'll be taking over my tumblr. I'll be posting a note on it at midnight (for me) and then the next midnight so you know when she'll be on ;) I'm really happy because I'm feeling MUCH better so I should be on tumblr today answering the asks in my inbox and prepping for Proffy tomorrow :)

Some notes on reviews...

No problem :) I'm a little swamped at the moment, getting the SuperWhoLock all ready for tomorrow, but I'm hoping to (by Monday) go through all my PMs for any transcript requests and get them sorted :) Hope that's ok :)

I'm not sure if I'm the only one who uses Theta, I'm sure a few people probably have :) I mostly got it because, when I was looking up to see if I could find the Doctor's name (before I started writing Proffy and was new to Who lol) I wasn't sure if they said it in the classic series. All I could find was that, in one episode, another Time Lord called the Doctor 'Theta Sigma' and said it was a nickname of his from the Academy. I went with the idea that your nickname is something related to your name and thought maybe his name was either Theta or Sigma, and I liked Theta more :) Lol, thanks for reading this ;)

Oh there'll be even more sympathy for the Gangers on top of Rory ;) In a way, Time Lords are like them too. A separate person with the same memories and thoughts and everything, just a different appearance and personality :)

We'll have to see about Teddy ;)

Rory and Amy will still have a very strong relationship. But I can say he's still the Centurion, Amy's Centurion, but the 2000 years...we'll have to wait and see }:)

Yup, the Doctor mentioned Mac and him telling Amy something with the Angels, but Amy only thought she saw Mac with the Doctor. The Doctor lies and the mind can do funny things to you. I feel like, at that point, the Doctor wouldn't want to tell that Mac that she wasn't with him in the future and Amy, I like to think, subconsciously realized that the Doctor and Mac were a pair and, seeing the Doctor there, her mind made her think Mac was there too because, deep down, she knew the Time Lords should not be separated ;)


	16. A Christmas Carol - Part 2

A Christmas Carol - Part 2

The Doctor leapt to the side, trying to avoid the shark, reaching out to grab Mac and pull her with him but he stumbled as he moved, missing her arm as he fell back against one of the iceboxes, toppling it to the floor with him. Mac held fast to Kazran's hand and turned, pulling him on through the maze of boxes, till they reached a small pillar that had a few of the ice box controls and parts set up around it, a repair base it appeared.

"Stay here," she whispered to him, grabbing what looked like an empty canister, about the size of an Earth fire extinguisher, and stood, peering around the pillar, watching as the shark swam towards them, its top fin visible through the thick fog. She held her breath and readied the canister, ready to 'punch' the shark in the nose as she'd heard that that was especially useful in stalling sharks and stopping an attack.

But, just as the beeping of the sonic in the shark got closer, someone started singing a song she recognized from being on Earth as 'In the Bleak Midwinter,' luring the shark away. She lowered the canister but didn't let go even as she reached out and took Kazran's hand, leading him along the boxes, following the singing back to where Abigail's was open, the woman outside of her box and kneeling a few feet away, singing as she pet the shark, which was just lying there as though nothing had happened, calm as anything.

"Turns out," Mac remarked as the Doctor joined them, having tried to find them in the fog, "It's not the singing that does it."

"Yes, it is," Kazran argued, mesmerized by Abigail and her voice.

"Nah," the Doctor waved him off.

"The fish love the singing, it's true."

"Nah," he repeated, "The notes resonate in the ice, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog…ow!" he suddenly slapped the back of his neck, feeling a small bite there. He pouted and looked at Mac, "A fish bit me."

She blinked, "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"Either stop the fish biting me or kiss it better."

She blinked again, "The fish bit your neck," she reminded him.

"Yes. And?"

"And that would require me to kiss your neck."

"Yes. And?" though this time his voice cracked a bit as he realized that she was right about that part, he could feel his face flushing at the thought, could feel a rather soft stirring of anticipation, like a little tingle in his gut, at the thought that she might do it, or, even if she didn't, imagining that she would.

Mac just shook her head, "Turn round."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he spun o the spot, holding his breath, thinking she might actually do it…only to feel something stick to his neck instead.

"There," Mac nodded to herself as he slowly turned back around to see her putting band aid wrappers back in her pocket, "Just as good."

He pouted at that, letting out a long sigh, "I suppose," he let out another very long breath, a long suffering sigh, glancing at Mac to see her looking at him in confusion.

"Hold on…" she frowned, "Did…did you WANT me to kiss your neck?"

He took a deep breath, opening his mouth to tell her what had been going through his head when he'd made that suggestion…only to realize he had absolutely no idea what that was, temporary leave of his senses surely to be that bold with her, and quickly spun around to face Abigail and the shark, instead continuing with his notes about the singing to Kazran, and besides, that was not a conversation to have around other people, "That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them...ow!" he winced again, slapping the other side of his neck as another nibble happened, "Why do they keep biting me?"

"Because you keep talking," Mac told him, pulling out another band aid and moving to stick it to his neck, the Doctor falling quiet as Abigail continued to sing the shark to sleep.

~8~

Mac looked over to see that Kazran and Abigail were looking at the TARDIS in awe while she and the Doctor worked on securing the shark in its icebox, "Oh please don't say…"

"It's bigger on the inside!" Kazran gasped.

"That," Mac sighed.

"I love it when people say that," the Doctor remarked.

Mac looked at him, "But EVERYONE says that. Just once I'd want someone to say something about how it's…I dunno, smaller on the outside. Just something different."

"Amy said she was wearing her nightie," the Doctor reminded her.

"That doesn't count, that was about her not the box."

The Doctor chuckled at that, he knew what it was. Mac hated repeating herself. It came from a lifetime of having younger siblings, she always had to tell them things more than once to get them to do anything, her sister more so than her brother and she hated repeating herself or hearing something else repeated over and over. But, unfortunately, that seemed to be the curse of the TARDIS, everyone always noted how it was bigger on the inside first.

"There," he tapped the box as he finished securing the last of the locks in, "Shark in a box, to go."

He and Mac quickly hefted the box up and carried it into the TARDIS, setting it down on the ground before they hurried over to the console to get them back to the sky.

"This is...amazing!" Abigail gasped as she looked around in awe.

"Nah," the Doctor smiled, glancing at Mac for confirmation as she nodded, keeping the TARDIS steady while he ran to the doors, "This is transport. I like to keep amazing over there working the console," he winked at Mac, "But I suppose this would do too," he pulled open the doors to reveal that the TARDIS had moved and was now hovering in the middle of the sky, schools of fish swimming/flying past them. He grinned, seeing the completely awed and disbelieving looks on Kazran and Abigail's faces as they slowly made their way towards the doors to look out and stepped past them, "Come on," he called to Mac as she locked them in place, "Let's get this shark out."

Mac stepped beside him, putting in the code to heat the shark up once more while the Doctor undid the locks. Soon enough the shark had sprung out of the box and was flying towards the open doors and out among the clouds.

"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran cried, grinning widely as the shark rejoined its friends.

"What are these?" Mac wondered when a set of numbers on the front of Abigail's container caught her attention. They were on a long series of 0s, but with an 8 on the end, rolling numbers like a sequence lock or something, "Abigail?" she called the woman over, "What does 8 mean?"

"It pertains to me, ma'am, not the fish," Abigail explained as she stepped over to them.

"Yes, I got that, thanks," Mac nodded, "But what does it pertain to?"

Abigail hesitated a moment before looking at the Doctor, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"

The Doctor frowned at that, "Do you need a doctor?" Abigail grew very sad, looking down, and the Doctor took a step forward to ask her what was the matter…when a bell went off on the console and he quickly spun around, forgetting all about it, "Ah! Sorry!" he rushed for the console.

"Pavlov!" Mac called to him in a sing-song voice, making him stick his tongue out at her, "Proving my point Doctor."

He rolled his eyes at her implication that he was like a trained dog or something, that when he heard the console going off he immediately dropped everything to see what it was. Well, just because that mostly (always) happened, didn't mean he was conditioned to do it or anything…it just meant that there was usually an adventure to be had when the TARDIS bells and whistles went off.

"Time's up, kids!" he added.

"Why?" Kazran pouted as he and Abigail made their way over to the console, not wanting the fun to end.

"It's almost midnight," Mac told him, "We need to get you both back before Christmas Day or else Father Christmas won't come. Jeff is VERY particular about children being asleep when he leaves them his surprises."

~8~

And so began a long tradition of visiting Abigail during the Christmases that were to come. They'd brought her back to Kazran's, got her icebox set up all nice, and, just before she was put under again, Kazran had told he that the Time Lords came very year for Christmas Eve. It had forced their hand a little big, making them come to see him the next year at the same time, only moments for them where it was a year for Kazran. Still, if this was something they could do to help cheer the boy up and keep him from becoming the old bitter man they knew in the future, they'd do it.

Oh they had quite a time of it all. That very first year they'd come back with Father Christmas hats, they'd gotten the shark to come down from the sky and managed to harness it up to a two wheeled, open carriage. Abigail had thought it wouldn't work, but the Time Lords had proven her wrong. They'd had a magnificent sleigh ride up into the air, into the sky and the clouds, the shark pulling them on. They'd visited every year, wearing fezzes and scarves and bowties as well, doing something different and something special each year. There had been a small bout just after the scarves though where Kazran would meet them in the ice room but shake his head, either that he couldn't make it because of his father or he just…didn't want to do it. The Doctor had started to fear that it was because he was becoming too much like his old bitter self, that he was losing the spirit of the holiday, but Mac had just reminded him of a rather embarrassing decade of his life where his voice had gone wonky every other day and he'd broken out with small little pimples and he'd gone through a growth spurt that had forced him to need a new wardrobe every two years. And then he'd realized why Kazran was reluctant to be around Abigail, puberty was always a funny time.

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted as the opened Abigail's container for the first time in quite a while, Kazran was now an older teenager, nearly 20 really and had finally finished with his own changing voice and body and was more confident in being around the lovely Abigail again.

Abigail herself seemed to have noticed the change in Kazran as well as her focus was not on the Time Lords and greeting them in her typical manner, but in look at Kazran with a breathy, "Kazran!" as greeting. The woman couldn't take her eyes off him even as he led her to the TARDIS, parked at the end of the aisle of boxes, "You've grown."

"Yeah," he nodded, his cheeks heating up.

"And now you're blushing."

"Sorry."

"That's ok."

The Doctor smiled as he looked at Kazran, he could remember the first time he'd been around a girl after his body had finally settled, well, he'd been around a few girls, but Mac was the only one that made him feel both nervous and comfortable at the same time when he was around her.

"So," Kazran looked at them, "Where this time?"

"Pick a Christmas Eve," the Doctor patted the console, "We've got them all right here."

"Might I make a request?" Abigail stepped forward.

"Whatever you'd like," Mac nodded, making Abigail beam.

"This one."

~8~

The Time Lords realized quite soon after Abigail made her request, just why she had picked the current Christmas and that planet to spend time on. She missed her family and had wanted to just look in on them, check on them, for that Christmas Eve. They'd seen how sad she'd been when her family didn't even realize she was standing in the window before their home watching them prepare for the holiday. She'd started crying and, since neither Time Lord did well when children (for that was what humans were to them, in comparison) cried…they'd endeavored to see to it that Abigail's family got to spend the day with her as well. It was all rather easy. They just knocked o the door and (after the Doctor had barged in rudely) told them that Abigail was outside. They hadn't been believed at first so the Doctor merely threw the curtain before the window aside and showed them that the girl really was right there. They'd been ushered in instantly.

Kazran had been roped into helping the man of the house, Abigail's brother-in-law, with decorating the lights and the walls with ribbons and ornaments, while Abigail spoke to her sister. That left the Time Lords to happily entertain Abigail's nephew, the boy they recognized would be the father from the family that had confronted Sardick in the future. The Doctor had attempted rather bad card tricks with the boy and, after an early Christmas Dinner given by Abigail's sister as the woman was going to leave that night, he'd left still without guessing the card the boy had picked. It had been a lovely night regardless, full of Christmas cheer and love and now they were just escorting Abigail back to her box so they could leave an see hr again next year.

Abigail smiled as she hugged Mac tightly, "Best Christmas Eve ever," before hugging the Doctor as well.

Though the Doctor pulled away just a little quicker than normal, slinging his arm over Mac's shoulders even as he smiled, "Till the next one," he joked.

"I look forward to it," Abigail nodded before glancing at Kazran, who was standing beside the Time Lord, quiet, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."

"Of course," the Doctor gestured her on, though he remained standing there, "Well, on you go," he urged when neither of them said another word.

"I believe she wanted to say good night in private Doctor," Mac remarked, amused.

"Oh!" the Doctor flushed at how he hadn't realized, though it DID make him curious and suspicious and a little fearful that Mac had noticed their desire for a private moment and an attraction between the humans but not the same when it came from him. Clearly she wasn't oblivious to all flirting and tension but…it made him wonder if she was really just trying to 'let him down gently' in not returning or appearing to notice, any of his advances, "Right, yes, sorry," he looked between Kazran and Abigail.

"We'll leave you to it," Mac took the Doctor's arm and started to tug him off.

"Good night," the Time Lord called to Abigail as he was led off, before nodding at Kazran, "Good luck...night! Good _night_!" and turned to walk on with Mac.

But Kazran ran after them, "Doctor! I, er," he glanced at Mac before deciding to continue on, knowing she could give him a woman's perspective, "I think she's going to kiss me."

"No," Mac looked at him, sarcasm in her words, "Do you?" before she laughed, "She's most certainly going to Kazran, so off you pop," she pushed him back toward Abigail.

But he ran back, "I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?"

"Well," the Doctor put his arm around Kazran, "Try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."

"Why?"

"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan," he winked at Mac as she smiled, that was actually rather sound advice, "Off you go, then!" and nudged Kazran as well.

But Kazran STILL wouldn't budge and ran back to them, "What, now? I kiss her now?"

"You ought to now before she thinks you don't want to and locks herself in her icebox," Mac remarked, "You DO want to kiss her, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Kazran," the Doctor patted him on the arm, "It's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now, go! Take this if it makes you feel better," he handed Kazran a small sprig of mistletoe, "I was saving it for later but it might make it slightly less awkward for you if you have an excuse."

Kazran looked at the mistletoe before rushing off back to Abigail, the Time Lords watching as he held it above her head and leaned in to kiss her before they turned to head off.

"Why did you have mistletoe in your pocket?" Mac inquired.

"Why do I have anything in my pockets?" he shrugged, "I've stopped asking."

"No," she stopped before the TARDIS doors, giving him a look, "You said you were saving it for later. What later? Why did you have mistletoe?"

He gave her a soft look, "Like I told Kazran, might make things less awkward if there's an excuse."

Mac blinked and frowned as he stepped past her and into the TARDIS, "Were you going to use it on Amy and Rory?" she began as the doors closed behind them and the box disappeared.

~8~

Mac was trying to make herself laugh at the predicament the Doctor had gotten himself into on their next Christmas Eve, the four of them having travelled to Hollywood for it. Somehow he'd gotten himself engaged to Marilyn Monroe and the woman was quite adamant that they get married right that second. She was trying to make herself laugh…but she felt like she was about to be ill, her hearts were racing and she just felt…off. All the running that the Doctor was insisting they do as they tried to escape the woman wasn't helping either. But that part DID make her feel a little better, that he clearly did NOT want to marry the woman in question.

"Guys!" he shouted as he pulled her past a bush to see Kazran and Abigail kissing by the pool. She'd found a lovely white gown for Abigail to wear, the Doctor and Kazran managing to scrounge together some suits for the occasion, though the Doctor's ended up being more a white evening jacket and a more formal bowtie though. She had found a gown that was similar to her new style a strapless white gown with a black shrug and black gloves. Her dress nearly went to the floor and she discovered she didn't like it, she didn't like not being able to see her feet for some reason. Just another odd quirk it seemed, "We've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe."

Mac tugged him back as he tried to run right past the two humans who hadn't given any indication that they had heard a word of what he'd said, "I don't think they're listening Doctor."

He spun around to see they were STILL kissing and frowned, making his way over to them, "How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears?"

"We used to go longer than that," Mac remarked, starting to flush and actually starting to stutter when he looked at her, his eyes wide at hearing her bring up that part of their history together, "Respiratory bypass and all…"

He smiled at the memory, but stiffened when he heard a 'Yoo hoo!' echo behind him and tensely turned to see a blonde woman in the distance waving at him. He quickly turned back to Kazran and Abigail, nearly begging them to stop, everything he could do without physically grabbing them and shoving them apart because that was rude and even though he was rude he wasn't that rude, "Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening now!" he winced, hearing another yoo-hoo, "Right, fine, thank you. I'll just go and get myself out of this mess than, lot of help you are," he turned and stalked off towards Mac, taking her hand and pulling her back the way they'd come, towards where the TARDIS was, if they could just get inside…they'd' be safe for the night.

"What's the matter Doctor?" Mac nudged him, feeling slightly better about the situation now that he really, REALLY did not want to marry Marilyn, "Don't want to be Mr. Monroe?"

"No," he said seriously, "There's only one woman I want to marry and it's not her. It's not even a blonde at the moment."

Mac blinked, pausing in her walk as he moved ahead of her and entered the TARDIS, "Who?" she called, hurrying after him, the doors shutting behind her as the box started to disappear, ready to go appear around Kazran and Abigail to get them out early.

~8~

Mac was frowning as she watched Kazran say goodbye to Abigail in the ice room a short while later, completely forgetting to ask the Doctor who it was he wished to marry as she saw the utterly devastated looks on Kazran and Abigail's faces, the Doctor oblivious as he played with a fish in the fog with his sonic. It wasn't till they heard the click of the door shutting on Abigail's box that the Doctor looked over, "There we go," he grinned, making his way to Kazran, "Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year."

"We will, won't we, Kazran?" Mac asked, eyeing the boy intently, "We'll be back in a year yes?"

"Listen…" Kazran began quietly, "Why don't we leave it?"

"Sorry, leave what?" the Doctor frowned.

"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."

"Old?"

"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."

"Sorry," the Doctor's frown deepened, "I didn't realize we were boring you."

Kazran shrugged, "Not your fault. Times change," before turning on his heel and walking off.

"Not as much as I'd hoped," the Doctor murmured.

"No," Mac shook her head, "Something's wrong. Something had to have happened. He was just talking about going to Paris next year, why would he suddenly not want to?" she looked at the Doctor.

He nodded, seeing the logic in that, "Kazran!" he called, turning to rush after the teen as he nearly made it to the end of the row, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell..." he held out the sonic to him, "Merry Christmas."

"If you ever need us," Mac added, joining them, "Turn it on, think of us, and talk. We'll hear you and come round."

Kazran took it, but his eyes narrowed at them, "I won't need you."

"You know," Mac spoke, "I've come to realize that everyone needs a Doctor at some point in their lives," she smiled at him, "More than they might even know."

The Doctor's own expression turned soft as he looked at her as well, "Well, I think everyone should have a Kenzie of their own, but…luckily for me, unluckily for them, I'm the only one who's got one."

"We've both had younger brothers Kazran," Mac turned back to him, "We can both tell that something's wrong. Care to tell us what, exactly, that might be?"

But Kazran just turned and stalked off.

"What about Abigail?" the Doctor tried.

Kazran turned on his heels, opening his arms to gesture around though he kept walking backwards, "I know where to find her."

The Time Lords looked at each other and sighed, turning to head back to the TARDIS, they had one more shot, they'd give it one more year, pop back next year and see what would come and then…well, they'd have to go to Plan B.

~8~

They should have known not to get their hopes up too high for Kazran the next year. The boy they'd left in the ice room had all the signs of turning into Sardick, but still they'd gone to his room, they'd seen him through the window looking at the half of sonic they'd left with him…and he'd seen them watching…only to close the curtains on them. And so it came about that plan B was, in fact, needed. They'd gone back to the TARDIS to call Amy up about it, telling her to start the plan, leaving her to the role of Ghost of Christmas Present. They were helping from the TARDIS as the hologram controls of the ship and Sardick's manor in the present were activated.

Amy appeared to him as a hologram and showed him the scores of people that were in the ship, singing Silent Night through the holograms in the ice room. Sardick hadn't exactly been thrilled, from what they could see as they dashed around, trying to keep the connection with the ship, and had broken up the holograms being projected from the iceboxes. They had learned one rather interesting and heartsbreaking piece of information though.

Abigail…she was dying.

She was sick when she'd been put into stasis and each and every time that they opened her box, she lost hours of her life, to the point where she only had 1 more trip left to live before the end. Apparently she'd told Kazran about it and now the boy's actions and behavior when they'd last seen the teen made more sense, now they understood how sweet little Kazran had grown into bitter old Sardick. Still, they had to hope they could get through to him, had reversed the hologram controls and brought him to the ship, let him see what it was like to be on the ship as it was crashing through the clouds. The singing couldn't be stopped there or ignored, the entire ship singing Silent Night in an effort to calm the storm and stabilize the ship…but it wasn't working.

They paused in their efforts to keep the hologram maintained only when they heard the captain of the ship speaking, "If you can release us from it, we still have time to make a landing. Nobody has to die."

They held their breath, waiting for Kazran's answer though they knew what it was going to be, "Everybody has to die."

"Not tonight," Amy's voice argued, they couldn't get a visual up as they were using the TARDIS to control the holograms at the moment, but they could still hear everything.

"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?"

There was silence for a long while before Amy spoke again, "Doctor? Mac?"

"Yes Amy?" Mac closed her eyes, both of them disappointed in Sardick and in themselves for not being able to change this in time to avoid Plan C that was sitting on the jump seat just in case Plan B failed.

"Are you hearing this?"

"We can hear," the Doctor nodded, even though Amy couldn't see it, before taking Mac's hand and leading her and Plan C to the doors, Plan C remaining within, the doors open enough for Plan C to look out as they moved to the middle of the ice room, waiting till the hologram canceled and Sardick was back with them.

"They're here?" Sardick began to call out, turning in a circle before them, trying to see them though they knew he was still seeing the ship, "Where are they? Doctor? Mackenzie!"

"Over here," Mac murmured and Sardick spun around, now able to see them standing in the middle of the row.

"Doctor!" his eyes widened, looking between them, "Mackenzie!"

"We're so sorry Kazran," she offered, "We didn't know about Abigail."

At the mention of her name Sardick's wide eyes narrowed, "All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me," he spun away from them, looking instead at Abigail's box.

"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor remarked wisely.

"Oh, try it. You try it," he glared back at them.

"We both have, actually," the Doctor told the man.

Sardick looked away, "Why are you here?"

"Cos we're not finished with you yet," the Doctor stepped forward, Mac remaining behind, her eyes on the TARDIS behind him, "You've seen the past, the present...and now you need to see the future."

"Fine!" Sardick scoffed, "Do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will, we all do! What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you! I don't and never, ever will care!"

The Doctor shook his head at that, "And I don't believe that."

"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."

A small, sad smile made its way to the Doctor's face, "I am showing it to you. I'm showing it to you right now. So what do you think?" his gaze flickered over Sardick's shoulder, "Is this who you want to become, Kazran?"

Sardick slowly turned to see his younger self, the one who had only just met the Time Lords, who had only just been smacked by his father and escaped a killer shark, standing here, slowly walking towards him, frowning, fearful, "Dad?" the boy whispered.

That was the LAST thing that Sardick wanted to hear anyone call him as he dropped his cane and strode towards the boy, lifting his hand, ready to hit him…like his father had hit him…like HE had been hit…he…he really was like his father wasn't he? He'd hated the man, he'd hated him so much for all he'd put him through and there he was…he was on the verge of becoming just like him. He swallowed hard and lowered his hand, starting to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he reached for his younger self, but the boy stepped back, utterly terrified of him, "It's ok," he whispered, gently pulling the boy towards him, "Don't be frightened," and hugging him tightly, "I'm...I'm so, so, so..."

"Kazran," Mac stepped forward, placing a hand on Sardick's shoulder, "I'm sorry, but we have to hurry."

The Doctor nodded and took her hand, turning to lead Kazran and Sardick off.

~8~

Mac smiled as she got the small projection equipment to work in Sardick's home, contacting the ship in the clouds, "Amy?" she called into it, getting the attention of Amy and Rory who…were for some reason dressed in their police uniform and Centurion attire…but never mind, "Rory?"

"Mac!" Rory breathed a sigh of relief seeing her, "What's going on?"

"The Doctor's managed to get Sardick to agree to release the cloud belt. I'm sending you a signal from here, lock onto it and you should be able to land in a few minutes. Ok?"

"We've barely got five!" the captain called out.

"Won't take that long," she promised, cutting the connection and turning to rush back to the Doctor as he stood by Sardick at the controls to the could belt, Kazran only a few feet to the side. She slowed though when she saw the solemn and serious look on the Doctor's face, "What is it?"

The Doctor ran a hand down his face, "The controls won't respond."

"But they're isomorphic," Mac frowned.

"I know," the Doctor swallowed hard, "We did it, we changed who Kazran will grow into…and it's a man his father would never program the machine to recognize."

"Then what do we do?" Kazran moved over to them as Mac rubbed her head, that was…NOT a good thing at all.

"Um..." the Doctor floundered, "Um... I don't know, I don't know. Kenzie?" he looked at her for something, anything that could help.

"There must be something!" Kazran argued.

"If we can't get a signal to cancel the cloud belt from down here, we'd need to have some way to do it from up in the sky itself," Mac reasoned.

"Yes, but how?"

"This!" Sardick pulled the half of the sonic that the Doctor had given him all those years ago out of his pocket, "You can use this! I kept it, see?"

"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor scoffed…before realizing exactly what that meant, "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer! Yes!" he cheered, rushing to hug Mac, "Brilliant!"

"What is it?" Kazran looked at them confused.

"The half of the sonic is still signaling to the other half," Mac explained, "A signal sent through one half would resonate into the other half, like…a microphone. And broadcast a signal out into the cloud belt itself."

"But what kind of signal?"

The Time Lords fell quiet at that.

"Well?" Sardick blinked, "What? What?"

The Doctor swallowed hard and turned to Sardick, "I'm sorry, Kazran. I truly am."

"We BOTH are," Mac added.

"I don't understand…" the man said slowly.

"We need to send something into the cloud belt, something we know works," the Doctor elaborated, "We need her to sing."

"No…" he breathed.

"We don't have time to experiment on anything else," Mac shook her head, "We've seen how her voice resonates with the ice crystals, when she sang to the shark? She stopped it, she can stop the storm as well."

Sardick looked down, closing his eyes, realizing that, in the end, he didn't even get to choose what day he'd get with Abigail…it would be this day. For a moment, whenever he thought about it, he'd felt like he wanted it to be his last day on earth, that they could pass together…but that, it seemed was not meant to be.

~8~

"Could you do it?" Sardick had to ask as he stood in the ice room, watching as Abigail's box warmed up, "Could you do this? Think about it," he glanced back at the Doctor, seeing him looking at Mac as he spoke, "One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"

"Christmas," Abigail spoke, stepping out of her container before the Doctor was forced to answer, "Christmas Day. Look at you," she smiled at Sardick, reaching out to touch his face, "So old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."

"But...if you leave the ice now..."

Abigail smiled sadly at him, but contentedly as well, "We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."

~8~

The Doctor and Mac were running back and forth between the TARDIS set up to the side, a device in the middle of the street just outside Sardick's mansion, and the wires leading from inside it to the cloud belt control and their device. They were trying to keep everything working and moving as Abigail sang into the half of the sonic, the music carrying up into the shark in the clouds, echoing her voice through the entirety of the belt, carrying her song everywhere.

"Well?" Sardick looked at the Time Lords as they finally slowed in their frantic running, taking it to be a sign that something was happening.

"Well," the Doctor began, "The singing resonates in the crystals. It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. One song, filling the sky. Kenzie'll keep an eye on the crystal alignment and then, when it happens, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."

"What does that mean?" Kazran looked up at them, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"

"Have you ever seen snow before Kazran?" Mac winked at him as his eyes widened, and a light dusting of snow began to fall around them, drawing the parents and children out of their hoes to come and see the miraculous sight.

Sardick actually let out a loud chuckle, smiling as he saw the families starting to play in the snow. He was one of the very few who had lived long enough to still be alive before the cloud belt and the controls had been put in place. He could remember the snow from being a boy, something his adult life was very much lacking. But there they were, with the white flakes pouring down from the heavens once more.

"Hello, my old friend!" Sardick called up, spotting the old shark flying across the sky.

"Come on," Mac nudged the Doctor, seeing that the storm was already calming, that the ship would be able to land any moment and they still needed to get Kazran home.

The Doctor nodded and turned to Kazran, "Let's go," he led the boy on, back to the TARDIS, Mac slipping her key in to open the door, allowing the boy in. The Doctor paused in the doorway and waved back at Sardick and Abigail before the doors closed and the box disappeared.

~8~

Mac laughed as she saw the Doctor rubbing noses with the carrot nose of a snowman he'd just built. He'd gotten a bit over excited showing all the children, who hadn't seen snow at all in their lives, how to build a snowman. She'd enjoyed helping him teach though they both had different ways of doing it and, as a result, a small war had broken out with the girls running off to build snowmen the way she had taught them and the boys doing the same with the Doctor's teachings. It was almost like the snowmen were alive and just popping up all over the place with how quickly the children were making them.

_"_You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person," Amy called as she and Rory, still dressed in their costumes, heading over to them, finding them easily in the crowd despite various men, women, and children milling about, "The snowman isn't bad, either."

"Ah, yes, you two," the Doctor nodded, "About time and…why are you dressed like that?" he suddenly asked, as though just noticing their appearance.

"Ah, kind of lost our luggage," Rory shrugged, "Kind of crash landed."

"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?"

Mac shook her head, "I'd really rather not know."

Amy nodded and looked around, she'd really rather not say as well, and glanced at the snowmen, "They really love their snowmen around here. I've counted about 20."

"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor remarked.

"Yeah," Amy nodded, looking at them both with a soft smile, "Yeah, you have," before she stepped forward and hugged them both, all too aware of all the time jumping the Time Lords had done for her and Rory, "Thank you."

"Pleasure," the Doctor gave her a quick pat on the back before stepping away, "Right, come on, then, let's go!" and led them back to the TARDIS.

"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory asked.

"I've read about a moon made of honey," Mac remarked.

"Ooh I've been there," the Doctor nodded, "Let me tell you, not made of actual honey…and it's not actually a moon…and technically, it's alive…and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views."

Mac shook her head and unlocked the TARDIS, "Don't worry Rory, I'm sure we'll find somewhere to drop you two off for some privacy."

"Thanks," Rory smiled, pushing the doors open, recalling some rather wise advice that Mac had given him and Amy just before they'd gone after the Egyptian goddess about privacy and the TARDIS.

Amy waited till the TARDIS doors had shut before looking at the Time Lords, "Are you ok?"

"Course we're ok," the Doctor nodded, "You?"

"Of course," she nodded in return, before looking up at the sky, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"

Mac nodded, "Yeah, it will be," she agreed, "But every end is just another thing beginning."

"Your phone was ringing," Rory called as he opened the TARDIS door, looking at the Doctor, "Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."

"Doctor?" Amy gave him an odd look.

The Doctor winced and rubbed his face, "Tell her I wasn't talking about HER when I was talking about proposals."

Rory gave him a look as well, "Ok…" and ducked back inside.

"Where are they?" Amy asked them, glancing at the sky once more as though trying to spot something, "Kazran and Abigail."

"Off on a little trip, I should think," the Doctor smiled.

"Where?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas," he nodded, Amy shaking her head at him before she entered the TARDIS after her husband, the Doctor glancing up at the sky as well, "Halfway out of the dark," he looked back at Mac and smiled, before turning to hold the doors open for her, allowing her into the TARDIS and following her. He'd just finished closing the doors when he saw she was already at the console, the Ponds nowhere to be seen, and getting them into the Vortex, the box drifting through it by the time he reached the console and joined her.

Mac took a breath and turned to him, "I'm sorry."

He blinked, "For what?"

Mac bit her lip, something he'd noticed this new her did quite a bit, "I didn't get you anything for Christmas," she told him, "I peeked at your list, but I just…nothing on it seemed to really mean anything to you and I wanted it to be a…special one, the first one in your new body and all…"

The Doctor smiled, "You couldn't have gotten me anything anyway. Because the thing I want the most, I didn't put on my list."

She looked at him, frowning, "And what was it?"

He swallowed hard, just…staring at her a moment, before he steeled himself and took a deep breath, "Your hearts."

Mac was quite for a long while, so long that the Doctor started to fidget and turn to the console, hitting random buttons for something, anything, that he could do to not flush and start to sputter in embarrassment. He'd promised himself he would do this and he was going to, no matter what, he would see this through and make sure she knew exactly how he felt about her.

"You want…what?" she shook her head.

"You heard me," he nodded, turning to face her again, "Kenzie," he paused before correcting, "Naery, I…I _love_ you," he looked at her intently, "I've said it so many times before but…you don't seem to realize it and, I thought, with us both being in new bodies that maybe we could…have a new start, a second chance. A new courtship. I've been trying, and failing it appears, to um…woo you, for quite a while now and…"

"You were trying to…to woo me?" Mac blinked, actually looking surprised at that.

Which led the Doctor to blink as well, "You…didn't know that? Everyone else did. Rory and Amy both offered to be my wing people. Vincent realized it, Craig saw it, everyone did but…but you, didn't they? You didn't see it…"

"No," Mac shook her head, blinking rapidly as she thought back, "You were flirting with me," she realized, "All that time, all those compliments and…brain trauma, it was really actually you…flirting with me…"

"Yeah," he nodded, scratching the side of his face, "I thought I was being rather obvious actually and…maybe that you were ignoring it to put me down gently?" he glanced at her, leaving his statement a question, leaving it open for her to deny or accept.

"I wasn't," she breathed, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he had been genuinely flirting with her that entire time…and she hadn't realized it, "I just…I didn't think…" she cut herself off and looked away.

The Doctor blinked, "Didn't think what?" but she was quiet, so he stepped closer and took her hand off a lever it was resting on, turning her slightly and lifting her chin with his other hand, "Didn't think what, Naey?"

She took a breath, "I just…didn't think you could still like me…like that. I mean," she added quickly, seeing him open his mouth, "You said you loved me a few times in this body, but I always just though it was like how the humans say it when someone's done a good job and the compliments, I thought you were just complimenting me on something jokingly. I never thought you…STILL felt that way for me."

"Naery I never ever stopped," he looked at her, "Why would you think I did?"

She swallowed and tried to look away but he started stroking her cheek with his thumb, pulling her attention back, "I was…I was SO cruel to you Theta," she told him, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes, "The last me, was so…harsh and biting and bitter and terrible to you. And you didn't deserve any of that. I didn't bother to listen to you, to trust you and I was so mean. I was…I was worse than a Dalek to you. I suppose, regenerating I just…I couldn't believe that you'd truly still love me after I acted so horribly to you. I would have deserved it."

"So all this time you thought that I was just being nice and not…being a…a man in love?" he started to put it together now, all his remarks had gone over her head because, to her, she truly didn't think he COULD mean them the way he intended them to be. She truly believed she'd been so horrible to him that he'd fallen out of love with her and was just being his kind old, new-flirty self with her. To her, she didn't think she deserved to be loved by him and so, any comment that even sounded a little like he did she couldn't process. She hadn't noticed his flirting because she hadn't thought he WAS flirting with her, she didn't think he wanted to, she didn't think he intended it to be flirting…

But it was.

Mac nodded, "I really didn't know Theta. I just…I couldn't, I CAN'T," she corrected, "Understand that you still love me after all I did to you."

"Love can't be explained Naery," he offered her with a shrug, "It can't be understood and…I don't think it's meant to. I love you, and that's the simple truth of it. I do. I love you in spite of all that. I'll just have to try harder to get you to see that…"

"No," she shook her head, "No you don't."

"I don't what?" he frowned, not entirely sure if she was telling him not to flirt with her because she didn't like him like that, despite the fact she'd not said a word against it at all for her reason why she hadn't noticed.

"You don't have to try harder," she offered him a small smile, "Just…" she took a breath, "I can't give you what you want of Christmas," she began, reaching up to touch is cheek when his expression completely fell, "THIS year," she added and his eyes shot to hers, "I do still care for you Theta, and…I've…felt things during our travels with Amy and Rory and…I felt things when you complimented me but I pushed them down so…don't try harder just…woo me again," she nodded, "Try your wooing tactics on me again and…I'll believe it this time. If…if you want to, that is."

He beamed at her, "I really would love nothing more than to woo you Naery."

She smiled at that, when a thought struck her, "That mistletoe you gave Kazran…" she began.

He flushed, "What about it?"

"You said you were saving it for later, for someone else, to…make it less awkward."

"Yes?" he winced, realizing that, now that she knew he'd been flirting with her that entire time, she'd work out quite a few instances and innuendo and suggestive remarks he'd made and what they really meant.

"You were talking about me, weren't you?" she looked at him, "You were going to use it to try and kiss me."

He sighed but nodded, "Bit late now though," he offered her an embarrassed smiled, "Gave my last bit to Kazran."

Mac nodded at that, thinking for a moment, considering something, "And…if I told you that you…may not need the mistletoe?"

The Doctor's eyes widened, "Are…are you?"

She bit her lip before she slowly started to nod again, "I think I am."

The Doctor smiled softly at her, lifting his hand back to her cheek and stroking it, "Merry Christmas Naery," he whispered, slowly starting to lean in, careful, allowing her to pull back whenever she wanted.

But she just murmured, "Merry Christmas Theta," and pressed her lips to his.

A/N: I can't believe the story will be over tomorrow! O.O We'll end with Death of the Doctor and then...big, BIG things planned for Series 6. Let's just say...there's a recurring tone to quite a few reviews that'll finally be answered in series 6 ;) I hope you liked this chapter and the nice little ending there ;) We finally see why Mac didn't realize the Doctor was flirting with her, she really didn't think that he could still like her after how she treated him :( But I can say that I think you just might like the title for the next story, to be revealed tomorrow ;)

I'll be posting a SuperWhoLock crossover in a few hours, to give some time between this and Merlin, and that one :) Also, today is the Professor's tumblr takeover day so any questions or posts to my tumblr that aren't in relation to asking her a question will be answered tomorrow ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, the SJA Death of the Doctor will be tomorrow :) I try to include notes on the SJA episodes in the first A/N of a series that features one :)

Those songs were lovely, I loved them all ^.-^

I love Nickelback, that song reminds me of the story too :) And thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the stories so far :)


	17. Death of the Time Lords

Death of the Time Lords

"Wonderful," Mac mumbled as she stalked through a rather red landscape, picking things up here and there, before tossing some to the side that were useless and others over her shoulder that were useful…trusting the Doctor to catch the ones she threw to him over her shoulder. She should probably tone down how much she was tossing to him as he already had a pile of objects in his arms that he'd likely drop if she didn't stop soon, but she was rather irritated. They had JUST gotten Amy and Rory to a lovely little make-up honeymoon so that they could finally spend some 'private time' together since their wedding as they'd had none of it on the TARDIS, when the Doctor had gotten a bit of a distress call on the console from Wastelands of the Crimson Heart, which was just a big old battlefield that he felt just HAD to be explored.

They'd gone there, the Doctor running out because he was just that excited, pulling her with him, and the moment they were five feet away, the TARDIS had disappeared. Literally, it had been teleported out somewhere they weren't sure where and they were left stranded amid a pile of junk. To make matters worse, about an hour after that had happened, she'd gotten a call on Martha's mobile, which she'd taken to carrying on her, from Martha herself. She was freelance now, but she still kept close ties with UNIT and she'd apparently gotten word that the two of them had died! According to her, she'd gotten a call that 'Agent Mackenzie and the Doctor' had perished, something about saving 500 children. She'd reassured Martha that they were both fine, just in a bit of trouble, nothing more than usual. Martha had been relieved but, when she'd mentioned that when the Shansheeth had come to UNIT with the news, they'd thought they were right since the aliens were apparently the universal undertakers.

She'd reassured Martha they were fine and that was the end of it, something about a Sontaran she and Mickey needed to see to. But it had been enough for her and the Doctor to work out what was going on. They'd needed the TARDIS as proof to others who might question if they were dead or not. And those who knew about them wouldn't doubt the 'universal undertakers.' So now they had to figure out some way to get back to Earth. If they could just get on earth they'd be able to make their way to UNIT and stop whatever the Shansheeth were planning, but they actually had to GET there.

"Naery?" the Doctor called as he struggled after her, some of the objects were rather heavy, "Is…is that it?"

He was being a bit careful in talking to her, she was really rather irritated though he knew it didn't have to do entirely with him. Oh she was cross that he'd gotten them into that mess, he'd been too excited, he'd grabbed her out of the box before she could run an environment scan and detect the Shansheeth being there in the first place. But equally she was irritated with the Shansheeth for doing that to them, for whatever they were planning to do on Earth, and for UNIT for falling for it apparently. She was also worried, he knew, for all the people she'd worked with IN UNIT. He knew she felt badly because she hadn't tried to make any sort of connection or friendship with them, she'd barely managed one with Martha, and he knew she regretted being so closed off and bitter and professional to the other members. He knew she saw this as a small way to make up for how she'd been, if she could stop the Shansheeth potentially harming UNIT then it would be like almost making amends for it, to save them.

But first they had to work out a way to get back to Earth.

Mac took a deep breath, "Yes," she looked back at the items in his arms, "I suppose…" she walked back over to him, sorting through some of the items as she went, "I actually…I might just have enough for an intergalactic molecular streamer, can probably set it up where the TARDIS was to key into the residual Artron Energy and, hopefully Clyde will still have some left over from fighting the Trickster that we can switch place with him just a second or two to get the TARDIS and get him back and..."

"Really!?" his eyes widened, cutting her off, "A molecular streamer?!"

"What?" she started to smile a little, "You don't think I can?"

"No, no, I do!" he nodded, "I'm just…impressed," he let out a soft chuckle, "I'm always impressed with you," he gave her a small wink as she looked up at him.

"Flirting?" she guessed, her smile wider. She felt so foolish to not realize that he'd been flirting with her so often, but…there were some times she wasn't sure if he was flirting or just being kind, she wanted to say that they were one in the same, but there were other times where she knew he was ONLY being kind to Amy where, if he said the same thing to HER then it was flirting.

"Oh yes," he smiled.

She shook her head and took half the objects, turning to go get the molecular streamer built, though the smile stayed on her face.

~8~

"Almost…got it!" Mac cheered as she connected the last wire, the odd device she'd made starting to hum and whir.

"Yes!" the Doctor grinned, pulling her into his arms and spinning her around, "See, not ALL bad eh?"

She shook her head at him but smiled, "We just need to key it into Clyde and activate it," she couched down before the device once more, patting in some information, "It should hold well enough without a sonic so long as we don't do more than 10 hops."

"10 hops?"

She nodded, "It's got enough power to transport 10 people there, or 5 there and back, so...if it sends both of us there, it'll be cut to 8 and so on…"

"Right," he crouched beside her, a little too close for someone who couldn't offer to help but he smiled widely when she didn't shift away for more space.

"I'm keying it in now…we should be able to hear him soon."

They were quite and, a moment later, they could hear Clyde's voice echoing out of the device, "…the Shansheeth, they're lying through their beaks. They want you and Jo, this whole thing's a trap!"

"I knew it!"

"Sarah!" the Doctor smiled before he looked at Mac, "Any way we can get a message to her first, might be a bit odd to just appear there, don't want her to start fretting about Clyde if he disappears. I'd rather we not be hit with another cricket bat because no one was expecting us."

Mac nodded and bit her lip in concentration, tweaking a wire.

"If they're lying that means the Doctor's still alive!" a woman, Jo Grant the Doctor recognized, whooped.

"Yes!" Sarah Jane laughed.

"Ok," Mac nodded, pointing to a button, "You should be able to speak to them…poor Clyde'll be a bit or a receiver though."

The Doctor nodded and leaned forward, pushing the button to speak, "Course I'm still alive Jo, I'd have thought that was obvious, catch up."

"…I beg your pardon?" Jo's voice questioned.

As well as Sarah Jane, "Clyde is that you?"

The Doctor grinned, "Course it's not, it's _me_!"

"Yes because they know exactly what the new you sounds like," Mac remarked sarcastically.

"I'm using Clyde as a receiver," he continued, "Kenzie's keyed into his residual Artron Energy so we can organize a very complicated biological swap across ten thousand light years hold on."

Mac stood and started to fiddle with the top of it, holding out a hand to help the Doctor up, "We need to hold this but…it'll be a little painful," she warned as they were suddenly jolted with energy as the device picked up.

For a few moments they could see themselves in a hallway, Sarah Jane and Jo standing before them, before they were back on the planet again, they were transferring, the device getting a lock on it, trying to keep them where Clyde was. It was taking a bit more effort as there were two of them and one of Clyde.

"Sorry Clyde!" the Doctor tried to speak as they flashed into the hallway, "But…this…space…is…taken!" he let out a breath as they appeared in the hallway permanently, "Good…so, gosh that was different," he smiled, looking at Sarah Jane and Jo, standing there with Rani and another young boy, "Hello everyone."

"Who are you?" Rani frowned at them, "Where's Clyde?!"

"Did you not hear before?" Mac blinked at her, "Biological swap, means we switched places with Clyde."

"You bring him back whoever you are!"

Mac laughed, "Rani," she put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Think for a moment, who do you know that could organize that sort of swap across 10,000 lightyears?" she raised an eyebrow as Rani stared, working it out.

"You're kidding…" Rani gaped as it hit her and she looked them over, the man in the tweed jacket and bowtie, the girl in the white dress and red cardigan, "It can't be!"

"It's you," Sarah Jane nodded though, smiling at them, "Isn't it? Oh you've done it again."

"Hello Sarah Jane," the Doctor winked at her.

"Doctor?" she looked from him, recognizing Mac as the ginger woman she'd seen with the last Doctor after that one Christmas where it appeared like a red planet was encroaching upon Earth.

"That's them?!" Rani shook her head, not recognizing Mac just yet, "Mac and the Doctor?"

"What Doctor?" Jo looked between them all, "_The _Doctor? My Doctor?"

"Yeah, well, he can change his face," Sarah Jane turned to her.

"I know, but into a baby's?"

"Oi!" the Doctor cried, mock-offended, "Imagine it from my point of view. The last item I saw you Jo Grant, you were what? 21? 22? It's like someone baked you."

"Oh but she's quite right Doctor," Mac laughed at him, turning to give his cheek a little pinch, "Look at how cute you are now."

He started to grin widely at that before he blinked, "Are you saying I wasn't cute before?" he started to pout.

"I couldn't really appreciate it then," she reminded him, a sad note in her voice.

He took her hand, "You can now," he whispered to her, smiling at her.

Sarah Jane eyed them a moment, looking between them, starting to smile herself. She'd seen the looks the last Doctor had given Mac, she'd seen the bitterness in the woman first, then a sort of forgiveness during her near-wedding, and then she'd seen a woman who looked almost shell-shocked but some sort of knowledge. She'd honestly been quite worried for the Doctor as it was plain to her and quite a few others that the man was quite besotted with Mac yet the woman appeared unable to stand him. She'd been SO relieved during her near-wedding to see Mac seemed kinder to him, less bitter. And now…now she could see a gentleness in the woman's eyes, a softens in her tones, whatever had happened between them, she could tell they'd resolved it now and…there was something there, something starting between them. She hoped it would end up being a good thing for both of them, especially the Doctor, he needed happiness in his life and…she could tell Mac did as well. They'd be good for each other.

"Everyone!" the boy cut in, Santiago they recalled now, one of Jo's grandsons, "Meanwhile…" he looked back and what appeared to be three rather large vultures with human arms and feet in thick black robes started to stalk down the hall towards them.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor nodded as he and Mac started to move to meet them, recognizing them, "The Claw Shansheeth of the 15th Funeral Fleet, we've been looking for you!"

"It's a breach of your solemn vows to spread false death notices you know," Mac added.

"We apologize," the Shansheeth in the middle of the other two spoke, "The death notice was released a little too soon," Mac stiffened at that, sensing something odd in the creature's tone, the use of 'soon' instead of just apologizing for the notice in general, and looked around, trying to find something, "Though I can rectify this immediately!"

Mac leapt forward, seeing the Shansheeth raising its hand to do something and grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall, blasting the thick, cold fog at the vultures, creating a smoke-like screen that kept them from attacking. She turned around, about to tell them to run…when a flash went off and suddenly Clyde was standing beside her instead of the Doctor.

Clyde blinked and turned to Sarah Jane, "I was on a planet."

"No time," Mac apologized, pushing him on, "Run! Go!" she urged the humans on, running after them, taking the rear and holding the fire extinguisher under her arm in case she needed it later. She looked up when she saw another flash and the Doctor was back, but that took the hops of the device down to 6 now, two to get them there, one to send the Doctor back, and one to return here.

"Come along Smith!" the Doctor shouted as they ran through a door that Sarah Jane was holding open.

"This way," Mac turned, leading them to a room she knew would have some useful supplies. She recognized it now, it was a UNIT base, and, for the Shansheeth to be there…it had to mean that UNIT had been infiltrated or that someone was working from within UNIT and hiding this from the rest of the organization. Whatever it was, she knew this base and she knew its layout.

"In, in, in, in, in, in, in!" the Doctor urged.

"I'm sorry," a woman in a UNIT cap and uniform, with long dark hair walked over to them as they all dashed into the room, "Is there a problem?"

Mac just slammed the door shut behind her as she dashed in…only for the Doctor to turn around and open it, "Sorry, we were…"

"Don't be polite NOW!" Mac huffed, slamming the door shut again and looking at the room, "We need something to lock the door."

"Come on," the Doctor called Sarah Jane forward, "Use the sonic lipstick."

"Haven't you got the sonic screwdriver?" Sarah Jane asked even as she stepped closer.

"They took it."

"Wow!" Jo stared at the sonic in Sarah Jane's hand as she locked the door shut, "They do sonic lipsticks now?!"

"Well, we're running out of time," the Doctor looked at Mac, "The device is short circuiting, we've got moments…"

Mac bit her lip, "Take Sarah Jane and Jo," she nodded, stepping back, "There's only enough for 6 trips, 3 to go there and 3 to go back, if I go with you…one of us would be trapped there and have to wait."

"Kenzie…" he shook his head.

"I'll be fine," she offered him a smile, "I'll look after the children," she told him meaningfully, knowing that if he disappeared with Sarah Jane and Jo like she knew he was planning, then the children would be left defenseless, "And I've got my um, trusty extinguisher and my bottomless pockets," she laughed.

He smiled sadly but nodded, she was right, if he went whizzing about again it would mean taking the adults and the children would have to fend for themselves, "Ok," he took a deep breath and spun around, "I need you, Sarah, and you, Jo," he reached out and took their hands, Mac stepping back.

"Need us for what?" Jo asked, though they didn't hesitate to take his hands.

"Remember the old days when I'd go zooming off to far away worlds?" he smiled, winking at Mac before he and the other women disappeared, Clyde appearing in their place.

"Oh," he hunched forward, resting his hands on his knees, "I'm getting space sick."

"Ooh," Mac moved over to him, rubbing his back, "Sorry, that was only meant to happen once, not so many times. But I suppose that's what you get trying to make a molecular streamer out of space junk."

"I'm sorry," they heard someone calling through the doors, knocking on them, the same woman as before, "But can I help? Is there something wrong?"

Mac looked at the children and put a finger on her lips, moving over to the doors, "Who are you? State your name and rank."

The woman was silent a moment, seeming a bit confused at the request, "Tia Karim, Colonel."

Mac nodded, "Tell me, Tia Karim, why did UNIT see fit to send out false death notifications about Agent Mackenzie and the Doctor?"

The woman was silent.

Mac smirked and slowly lowered to the ground, pulling out her flat mirror to look under the door at Tia, standing there with two other Shansheeth, "You seem very familiar with them," she remarked, "And, being in UNIT, you have the ability to fake any DNA results that you'd need to prove to others that they died. But you know what, you truly underestimate the faith of his companions," she smirked, "You never should have called Martha Jones, because I do still talk to her from time to time Colonel Karim. And I don't appreciate you telling her I died."

She could see Tia's eyes widen as she realized that the ginger woman was Agent Mackenzie and not just the Doctor's next companion. She was rather glad she hadn't gotten UNIT to update her profile. It was still listed as her last incarnation in their records.

"So she's not on our side?" Santiago asked.

Mac shook her head and Rani added, "Think about it, someone inside UNIT had to fake the DNA results. Colonel Karim, she's in league with the Shansheeth."

"Standing with them right now actually," Mac nodded, standing up with the mirror, "Little trick for investigation, mirror under the door, on an angle, you can see the other side," she winked at Rani as the girl started to grin at the new trick, "Now, next trick…how to hack into the UNIT systems."

"I love you," Clyde looked at her in awe.

Mac laughed, "Funny, the Doctor says the same thing."

~8~

"There we go," Mac smiled as she brought up the schematics of the base on a computer in the corner of the room, "We're in the middle of the base and, if we can access this computer and their blueprints…"

"We can send out a message for help!" Rani cheered…

Only for the alarms to go off above them and the screen to go red.

"What's that mean?" Santiago frowned.

"Colonel Karim sealing off this wing of the base," Mac shook her head, "She's trying to trap us."

"Trying to?" Clyde scoffed, "Looks like she IS."

"Ventilation shafts," Mac pointed behind them…before blinking, "Groskes?"

There, crouched in the middle of the shaft behind them, was a little blue Groske, much like a Graske except in color, "Hurry, hurry, follow me!" it called and shifted backwards into the shaft.

The children looked at her, "Groske are far more helpful than Graske," she remarked, "They know their way around the base. If the Shansheeth try to follow they'd get stuck because of their wings," she nodded, "It's the safest place so far," she agreed, "After him," she ordered, but she took the extinguisher with her.

The children went in first, her last, following the Groske to a small little room that looked like he'd nested in it, made it his own personal room, "Hey, nice," Clyde smiled, "You've got a little den. What's all the hurry for?"

"Pizza!" the Groske cheered, holding up a box of it.

"What? I thought you had a plan!"

"Shansheeth too scary. Me hide."

"No! We've gotta do something."

"We will," Mac put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll just do it from here."

"Yeah," Rani nodded, "And hiding's not bad 'cos we've gotta keep you safe Clyde. Whatever the Doctor's doing, he needs you for that body switcharoo."

"Oh, great, great," Clyde muttered, "Stuck in Groskeville."

"Pizza good," the Groske offered him some and Clyde sighed and took a slice.

"Do you get to do this all the time?" Santiago asked as Mac moved around the room, looking at the odds and ends to see if there was anything useful in there, "Fight aliens and chases and stuff?"

"You can talk Santiago," Clyde smiled, "You off to Paraguay and Mt. Everest."

"Dude you just zapped into another planet!"

"Yeah that was pretty cool."

"Yeah we've been to parallel times, dream dimensions, limbo, and then we go home for tea," Rani joked, making Mac smile as she listened to them.

"Yeah, we see all of this and then my mum's like, 'what did you do today?' And I'm like, 'not much.'"

"Yeah, went to the library."

"Played a bit of footy."

"Stayed behind after drama club."

"Oh, yeah and I fought off a platoon of Judoon in my spare time."

Mac's smile faded the more she listened, hearing about what they did or told their parents it just…she loved children, she did, but it was equally as hard to be there around them, to see them grow up and talk about their lives with their parents. She would never get that chance, she would never get to experience asking her child what they did for the day or sitting down to listen to them say even 'nothing much' or anything like that. She'd never get to help them study or watch a play or even make tea for them. There was Teddy, River had said that she'd run into him, that he was alive…but she didn't know how to find him and she didn't know which River had run into him at what point in her timeline so she couldn't ask, not that she thought River would even tell her. Spoilers and all.

"I've not seen my mum for six months now," Santiago admitted.

Mac closed her eyes at that, she couldn't imagine that. She'd known Teddy only a few short hours and she could hardly stand the six minutes that came after losing him, the six days in the TARDIS after they'd left Messaline. She couldn't imagine being a mother and being separated from her child for six months. Santiago was a young man, a teenager, he should be home with his parents, no matter where they were. It broke her hearts to think that the boy was so separated from his parents that it was half a year since he'd seen them. For Time Lords, that was a blink, but for a human…that was precious, precious time.

"How come?" Rani frowned.

Santiago shrugged, "She's in Japan organizing a rally. I mean, that's great, you know, it's really good work."

"Yeah, course it is," Clyde agreed.

"Before that she was in Africa, finding shellflower plants. My father's with the gay dad's organization hiking across Antarctica. We haven't all been together since about…February?"

"When are you gonna see them next?" Rani asked.

"Soon. I don't know. Soon though."

Mac spun around hearing a noise like metal sliding to see that the vent they'd come through had just sealed, a metal sheet sliding down from it, blocking entrance to it.

"What's that?" Clyde gasped, "What's happening?"

Mac strode over to the vent door and pushed on it, looking at it intently, "Colonel Karim's trying to trap us."

"Trying!?" Clyde scoffed, "Succeeding."

"Ye of such little faith Clyde," Mac murmured, not even flinching when the lights of the room turned red and the temperature began to rise.

"Heating!" the Groske called, "Hot, hot, hot."

"They're trying to boil us!" Rani gasped.

"But why?" Santiago frowned, "We're already trapped!"

"They're trying to divert the Doctor," Mac remarked, "When he gets back with Sarah Jane and Jo, they're going to try and use the danger to get him to go after us instead of stop the Shansheeth."

Clyde moved to help her with the vent, banging on it, pushing on it, "It won't budge! Come on Groske there's got to be a way out!" he looked at the small alien.

"No, we die like rotisserie," the Groske stated.

"Yeah well, you can, but I'm not," Rani strode forward, starting to shout, "Sarah Jane! Anyone!"

"Doctor!" Clyde called, "Where are you? Get us out of here!"

"Sarah Jane!"

"Doctor!" Santiago added, "Hurry up! We're getting boiled alive!"

"Calm down," Mac said, the same time they could hear the Doctor's voice in the distance, "Hold on! We're coming!"

"Don't worry Santiago, I'm here!" Jo called as well.

"Look, look, look, step back," Mac ushered them back, "You humans, always with your hysteria and hardly any trust."

"What are you talking about?" Rani frowned.

"Just watch, and pick up a trick or two," Mac winked at her, keeping calm for the children, before she picked up the extinguisher and blasted it at the vent covering, it cooled down the room, calming down the children more now that they weren't feeling the heat, and then, right as she stopped she turned and bashed the bottom of the canister against the panel, weakened from being heated and then cooled, denting it. One more firm hit and the panel went flying back into the shaft, just as the Doctor came into view a few feet before where it landed.

"Blimey," the Doctor breathed, "Am I glad you didn't have any gunpowder left."

"You and explosions," Mac shook her head as he moved over the panel and into the room.

"If I wanted to see fireworks," he told her, stepping to the side so that the kids could get in and get out first, before he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips, "There they are," he winked at her.

They'd shared a kiss at Christmas, and…it had been lovely. But the Doctor knew that this was his chance, his true second chance to really win her affections back and start again. Now that Mac knew how he felt for her, now that she was aware that when it was directed at HER she should just assume everything was a flirt or a 'woo' he knew that he could do it. In a way, he almost felt like Mac already DID care for him, like him, perhaps even love him…she just didn't realize it. She wouldn't have kissed him if she hadn't felt SOMETHING. He just had to make sure that it came out, that she realized what it was. He knew that he should let her initiate the kissing if it was going to be a bigger kiss, or that he should build up to it if he were going for one. But that didn't mean he couldn't give her little pecks here and there. After having gotten that one kiss out of her at Christmas…he truly couldn't imagine not kissing her again…he tried to hold out as long as he could before he kissed her again, but sometimes it couldn't be helped.

"Oi!" Rani called, already into the vents, "You two, come on!"

Mac laughed, gestured him back into the vent, but he gave her a questioning look, "I'm still in a dress Doctor."

His eyes widened and his face flushed before he started to head back into the vent and go after the children, Mac following him. He turned and helped her out of the vent when they reached the end, the kids panting at how they'd escaped that. But they all stiffened when they felt a sort rumbling and heard something starting up.

"It's started!" the Doctor cried, before turning to run off.

"Can you change color or are you always white?" Clyde asked as they rushed off.

"No," Mac smiled, "It's a sort of lottery, we can be anything."

"And is there a limit? I mean, how many times can you change?"

"507," the Doctor called.

"12," Mac corrected, though she knew why the Doctor had said that, given what regeneration he was on…he'd give anything for it to be 507, or even 13.

The Doctor rushed right up to a door where they could hear the humming noise of something activated within, "Oh," he pushed on it, trying to open it, "They've sealed it off!" he banged on it, "Jo, Sarah can you hear me?"

"They want the key!" they could vaguely hear Sarah Jane shouting within, "They've got the TARDIS and a memory weave!"

"We need to get in there," Mac turned to the children, "Find us ONE way in!"

The children scattered, rushing to the doors and control panels and everything, but… "There's nothing!" Santiago called, "We're gonna need a bulldozer!"

"I've got the original here," the Doctor looked at Mac as he shouted through the door, "You can have it if let them go!"

Clyde tried to shove against the door again, "It's not shifting! What do we do Doctor? What do we do?"

"The power must be diverted to the machine," Mac turned to the Doctor, "It won't open the doors till the machine shuts down and that won't happen till they remember."

"And the Shansheeth are making them remember…" the Doctor began quietly, a thought striking him as he spun to Mac, "So we do the same. I need a comm.!"

Mac turned and ran to a control panel, "Switching them on," she put the command in, "Ok," she looked at him.

"Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?" he called, "Listen to me both of you. I _want_ you to remember."

"We _are_ doing it," Jo spoke, "That's the trouble."

"No, no, no, I want you to remember _everything_. Every single day with me. Every single second. Because your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet. Just think of it Sarah, remember it Jo. But properly, properly. Give the memory weave everything. Every planet, every face, every mad man, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

"I remember!" Sarah Jane called.

"No!" Mac could hear Tia screaming.

"Memory weave overloading…" came a computerized warning.

"I remember!" Jo laughed.

"We need that key!" Tia screeched, "What is happening? What's happening?!"

"Initial target lost," Mac laughed as she heard that announcement.

"The device is overloading," one of the Shansheeth warned, "Too many memories. Too many!"

"Reverse it! Bring that key back!"

"Oi, you lot," Mac turned to the kids, "They've got just as many memories with YOU too!"

"Think of us Sarah Jane!" Clyde ran to the comm., seeing what Mac meant, "Remember Maria and her dad. And all the stuff we did. Like the gorgon."

"And the clown!" Rani nodded, "And the zodiac. And the Mona Lisa!"

"All of it!" Sarah Jane sounded near happy tears at it, "All of it!"

"Just think Gran!" Santiago added, "All the countries you've been to!"

"Every country in the world!" Jo breathed.

"Weave starting self-destruct," the computer warned.

"We've broke a circuit!" Sarah Jane cheered.

Mac rushed to the door, hoping that the broken circuit meant that the doors would open…but they weren't, "It's not unlocked!" she looked at the Doctor, "The weave will explode but they're still trapped in there!"

"What?" Rani gasped.

They looked over, hearing Sarah Jane's sonic starting…but fizzling out, "We've drained it," Sarah Jane breathed, before there was a pounding on the door, "Doctor! Mackenzie! We can't get out!"

"We can't open it!" Mac told her sadly.

"No sonic screwdriver," Sarah Jane realized.

"It's inside the TARDIS," the Doctor swallowed.

"And we can't get in 'cos guess what? We stopped ourselves getting the key. Oh that was clever."

"I just want to say," Jo sniffled, "I'm so glad I saw you again. I waited all this time and it was worth it. Every second. Funny thing is though, your funeral turns out to be ours instead."

"My funeral…" the Doctor looked up.

"Doctor, all of you, you'll look after Luke for me please?" Sarah Jane begged, "Mackenzie? Please…please watch him, take him with you."

Mac felt her hearts break at that, at how Sarah Jane was trusting her son to her…

"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor started to laugh, "But listen! My funeral! Don't you see! It's my _funeral_!"

"With a lead lined coffin!" Sarah Jane, Jo, and Mac shouted, realizing what he had.

"Yes!" he beamed.

"Oh you are brilliant," Mac turned to him, kissing him quickly, making him blink and beam, but she turned to the children, "Go, run! We've got seconds," she pushed them on down the hall, around a corner…before she realized the Doctor was just standing there, grinning at her, "Oh come on!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him after her, the two of them making it around the corner just as the room exploded, the doors blasting off the wall.

A moment later they slowly made their way back with the children and the Groske, "What do you mean the Mona Lisa?" the Doctor looked at Rani.

"Later, Doctor," Mac patted his shoulder before heading into the room with the children.

"Smells like roast chicken," the Groske commented.

The Doctor headed right over to the coffin that was still there, though it looked more like a lead box now, "Now then," he opened it, grinning when she saw Sarah Jane and Jo were safe and sound inside, hugging each other to fit, "Smith and Jones. The coffin was the trap, the coffin was the solution, that's so neat, I could write a thesis," he looked at Mac, "Well, come on you two, out you get," but the two women just laughed and hugged, "Yes."

He looked back at Mac to see the children hugging her as well and his smile turned a little sad. She was so…outstanding with children, it made his hearts tug painfully to know she'd never have ones of her own. He didn't much mind it, that, if something came of the two of them, that he would never have a child with her. Even though he loved children, Mac was enough, she was all he wanted. Yes, a child would be just…fantastic, but he was content to be with Mac forever, have her attention completely. But he felt more for her, he felt more pained for her to know that the children she always wanted to have, being such a mother to practically everyone, would never come.

~8~

"Still the same old TARDIS," Jo smiled as she walked through the TARDIS. They'd just set the box back down in Sarah Jane's attic, the children having stepped out moments ago. Thankfully the TARDIS had been just fine in the explosion even if the Shansheeth and Tia were not so lucky, "Doesn't matter what's changed. Still smells the same," she took a deep breath, "Nope. Gotta say goodbye or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides I probably couldn't keep up anymore. Get you into trouble with the Time Lords."

The Doctor looked away at that and, for once, Mac couldn't bring herself to tell the woman the truth when the Doctor tried to wave it off with a simple, "Yeah, we probably better go, you know me, stuff to do."

But she did move to his side and link her arm with his, giving his arm a small squeeze to comfort him. He smiled at her, leaning over to drop a soft kiss to her hair, a simple gesture, but it made his hearts swell to know that she was ok with it happening.

"It's daft though," Sarah Jane remarked as Jo came to stand beside her, "Because we were both saying, we had this theory that if, you ever died, we'd feel it somehow, we'd just know. That's just silly, isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Mac smiled at her.

"I think, if that day ever comes," the Doctor mused, "The whole Universe might just shiver," he fell silent for a moment, before jolting at them with a, "Boo!" making them jump.

The women laughed and gave the Time Lords a hug before they turned and left the box, "So," the Doctor turned to her, "Where do you want to go to next?"

She smiled, "There's a woman I'd like to talk to about a little boy that misses her," she told him, "She's in Japan right now, organizing a rally."

To be continued...in...Falling in Love!

A/N: I told you you might like the title for the next story ;) I can say we'll see a bit of backwards and out of order courting for Thaery ;)

I really can't wait for Series 6 and 7, so much planned :) So I want to take a second to thank you all so much for reading :) To anyone who read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story. I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far :) I hope you'll all like what's coming for Thaery :)

Sorry this was late :( I had a post on my tumblr about it. My town had to cut off the power to my street to remove a tree that was leaning too close to the powerlines. They said it should have only been about 3-4 hours, but the power's STILL not back, so I'm at McDonalds again :( My brother drove past it and said that it looks like the tree actually fell on the lines and took them down now so I have no idea when the power will be back on :( I'm hopeful for tomorrow though :)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, I'm not stopping writing ;) I only meant this particular story was over today, not that the series was over, we'll get the next story tomorrow ;) Sorry if I scared you! :) I hope you enjoy the Lunar Cycle :)

I loved Where I Belong, I agree, it was just lovely :)

Mac's not sure what she feels just yet, but I think the title for the next story hints at where it might go ;)

I think the address url got cut off :)

I'm glad you're enjoying the pairing :) It was voted on earlier, the winner for the pairing name was Thaery ;)


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